Quarter of a Year Club

Patrick is an official member of the Quarter of a Year Club already. On December 9th, he turned 3 months old! I can't even remember what life was like before him, just three months ago. Here's a picture of the stud muffin and daddy in front of the Christmas tree.

3 months old today!

Patrick has changed so much in the last couple months. He is such a joy and we have so much fun spending every day together. New developments include lots of talking (all kinds of noises!), starting to laugh, reaching and grasping, flirting, sucking on his hand, and lots of interactions with mommy and daddy. He keeps himself busy on his play mat batting and grasping at his toys for about an hour at time, which I really appreciate! The other day he actually played on his mat for so long that he tuckered himself out and fell asleep. That was a welcome first!

Passed out!

I know that everyone just wants to see pictures, so here you go:

Flirting with Daddy. Patrick and Daddy miss each other very much
when Daddy has to work long days.

On a walk in the redwoods with mom and
the doggies

Tummy time! (I put him on his tummy)

Nakey time is still a favorite :) Patrick has figured out how to
roll onto his side. Pretty soon he'll be on his tummy.

Post-bath hair do

Still has his beautiful blue eyes. Fingers crossed!
Can't say as much for his hair. Looking a bit bald like Grandpa Nakamoto these days!

So Patrick is doing a wonderful job of sleeping at night. Usually, he'll sleep for about 8 hours, wake up to eat, then go back to sleep for a few more hours. He is an angel! The only downside is that he doesn't nap much during the day. He typically takes 2-3, 20 minute naps a day. Needless to say, he keeps me busy during the day!

A rare nap :)

The little flirt monster!

Well that's all for now. One of these days I'll figure out how to up a video.

Have a Merry Christmas everyone! Love, Sarah

Patrick is Nine Weeks Old Already!!!

It's amazing how time flies. Our little guy is so grown up already, he's practically a little man. This morning he spent 45 minutes on his play mat while I did chores, made breakfast, and actually ate breakfast uninterrupted! It is very cool to see him engaging with people, toys and lights long enough so that he is becoming more independent and I can actually get things done around the house. Patrick's absolute favorite thing is "nakey time". If he's ever upset, I take off his diaper and let him hang out naked in his crib. He'll hang out like that smiling and cooing for the longest time!

Well, here are some pictures because I'm sure that's what you guys are most interested in:

Keeping my fingers crossed that he keeps this beautiful blue eye color

Bath time also means "nakey time"!

Here's the beloved play mat. Thanks for the pictures Auntie Frances!

Now that Delmar is back to work, he doesn't get to spend very much time with Patrick during the work week (those darn 12 hour shifts!). So when he finally gets home, I try to take care of everything so that Delmar gets to hang out with his little man as much as possible. Those two are a pretty happy pair together; lots of smiles and cute noises!

We don't have dates set yet, but we're planning on coming down to the Bay Area for belated holiday visiting some time in January. I'll let you all know when we have our plans set.

Well, enjoy the pictures of Mr. Patrick!

Patrick Kunio

On September 9, 2013 at 6:47 am, Patrick Kunio Tompkins was born. He was 7 lbs 8 oz, 20.5 inches long and as you can see, he had a full head of hair! He is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me and Delmar.

Patrick the morning he was born. Absolutely perfect!

Patrick has been a wonderful baby so far. During the first month he pretty much only cried when he was hungry and he would give us between 2-4 hours of sleep each feeding cycle. He spent most of the day sleeping and being adorable. Here are some more pictures from his first month of life.

Patrick loves to cuddle with Mom and Dad! He definitely prefers being in someone's arms (anyone's...he doesn't care who!) 

 

 The beautiful afghan you see in these pictures was made by Uncle Brent!

Patrick went to his first wedding before he was even 3 weeks old! Congrats Uncle Jon and Aunt Elissa!

Although Patrick is only 5 weeks old, he seems so grown up to us already. He was grown so much, he is very strong and he is very alert now. He makes eye contact, watches us as we move around and loves staring at the lights. Here's 5 week old Patrick:

One of my favorite parts of our new family is the role that Sophie plays. From the moment we brought Patrick home from the hospital, she immediately became his guardian. She watches over him when he's asleep, she stands between him and visitors often growling and showing teeth (a little embarrassing...best of intentions but not necessary with people we know!), she guards his bedroom door when we're in nursing, and lots of kisses!!! Patrick seems to like her quite a bit too :)

Pretty precious! I think these two are going to be best friends
 some day!

Alright, well time to get some chores done because he's actually asleep right now! Thanks to everyone for all of the love, support and gifts we have received the last few months!

38 Weeks Down, Hopefully Less than 2 to Go :)

So I am 38 weeks pregnant right now and I'm hoping to not have to go the full 40. I am feeling very pregnant, which includes being ginormous, tired, sore and swollen in the hands and feet. The good news is that things are most definitely progressing. I can feel that Patrick has started to drop much lower in my belly and it's very obvious to everyone else as well. Despite the progression, it's still impossible to know if I'll go into labor in 2 days or 2 weeks, so I am doing my best to be patient.

Delmar and I decided that it would be best to deliver at UCSF rather than up in Eureka. The doctors and the facilities there are superb and Patrick can get the attention he needs as soon as he is born. It seemed like the responsible decision just to avoid as much risk as possible considering the 300 mile distance between Eureka and UCSF.

So, to make sure that I actually have the baby at UCSF and not in Eureka or on the road somewhere in between, I moved down to Santa Clara to stay with my parents last week (Week 37). Delmar went back to work but he'll be joining me down here again soon. It's nice to be with family during this time of waiting. I've been going on lots of walks, taking the dogs to the park, and hanging out with Brent during the week.

Keep your fingers crossed for Patrick's timely arrival and we'll be sure to pass on the good news as soon as we can.

Love,
Sarah

P.S. I don't plan on posting photos on Patrick on Facebook so for those of you who can't visit, I can post some on here and/or email individually later on.

5 Weeks to Go!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to all the wonderful friends and family that came out to the two baby showers the last couple of weeks! Delmar and I are so grateful for your love, support and generosity. Patrick is so spoiled already, he has no idea how lucky he is! We had a great time visiting with everyone and we're so excited to bring Patrick into a world with so many people that care about him.

As many of you know, we had another ultrasound on Monday. We still don't have definite plans for the future, as far as delivering and seeing specialists, but we should know by next week. Until then, here are a few new ultrasound pictures from the last appointment.

Patrick likes to spend the majority of his day with THIS (above) foot applying steady pressure on my lowest right ribs. The two of us battle all day long; as he kicks at my ribs, I push back down on him until he gives up. Have to show him who's boss from the get go!

I'll keep you posted on the plans for late August/early September. One more appointment with a urologist and then hopefully we'll have a solid game plan for the delivery of this little guy.

Thank you again for all of the love and generosity!

Sarah

Nesting

So I have been told that I'm "nesting". Check off all nesting activities because apparently I am doing them. Setting up Patrick's room, washing and folding all of his clothes, organizing lots of Rubbermaid containers of baby clothes, supplies and miscellany, sweeping, vacuuming...whatever you want to call it, that's what I'm up to these days.

I found this dress/changing table on Craigslist for a great deal. I spent a couple afternoons sanding it down and refinishing it. It was a really fun project! As you can see, I already have it stocked with all of Patrick's newborn and 0-3 month size clothing!

Here's a picture of Delmar practicing his Swaddling technique on Sophie last night. Not to take too much credit, but I think we raised this pup really well. You can do pretty much anything to her (except cut her nails) and it won't bother her a bit. She stayed swaddled like this asleep on our bed for a good 10 minutes before we made her get up and go to her own bed for the night :)

33 weeks down, 7 weeks to go!

30 Weeks Down, 10 to Go

So I have hit the 30 week mark and it seems like a lot has happened in the past 10 weeks since my last post. First of all, my belly is now feeling huge. Bending over, getting in and out of bed, and just moving around in general are getting to be quite awkward. As you can see in these pictures, Mom has helped me tape up my back and belly to support the extra weight and it is helping so much! Thank goodness for Rock Tape! I still get to the gym several times a week but it is a much slower, less intense work out than I'm used to doing.

Everyone keeps telling me that my belly is so tiny. What I don't understand is where the next 10 weeks of baby is supposed to go. I don't think there's anymore space for little Patrick to keep growing, my belly is already maxed out!




Speaking of growing Patrick, we were able to see him during an ultrasound July 1st. He's growing big and strong (they actually had him measured a week ahead of the expected due date in weight) and he's moving around so much! He gave the ultrasound tech a hard time by flipping over completely several times. We even got to see him blinking his eyes!

Unfortunately, I had to part ways with Happy Dog sooner than I was expecting. It is a very physically demanding job and the owners were no longer willing to accommodate my prego needs. Delmar has helped me realize that it was probably a blessing in disguise to get out of there when I did. So now I'm at home every day getting ready for Patrick's arrival. I was worried about being bored but it's already looking like there is more than enough to keep me busy over the next couple months.

Well, I think that's all for now!

Love,
Sarah

Patrick Kunio, 20 Weeks

He definitely has his mother's little nose.

And hopefully this is also his mother's soccer playing foot :)

Funny Story...

So funny story...our little Aubrey is actually a Patrick! It turns out that our little girl is in fact a boy :) Thank goodness for follow-up ultrasounds. We are extremely excited no matter what the sex of the baby might be but we're pleased to have a definitive answer. So much for swinging the balance back for the Nakamotos.

Ultrasound sounds pics to follow soon

Restoring Balance

So it would appear that the Chinese gender prediction chart incorrectly predicted a boy for us...WE'RE HAVING A GIRL! There you have it Nakamotos, restoring the male/female balance. I was the first female to come along in quite a while, and I'll be the first to contribute the next female to the clan.

For those of you wanting to buy our little girl cute little outfits, that's fine and I thank, just keep in mind to tone down the pink selections. You know me, there is no need for an entirely pink wardrobe. Hopefully she'll be a little more girly than me, but she's still going to be a tough little chick too :)

Get ready for the excitement everyone. Sometime around September 17th we will be inviting Aubrey Elizabeth Tompkins into our happy family!

Prego Brain, Incident #1

The infamous "prego brain" has finally struck!

So the other night I was home alone with the dogs while Delmar was at work. I had been home from work for several hours at that point, just hanging around the house recovering from work and playing with the dogs. Suddenly at about 9:30 pm I realized that I hadn't fed the dogs yet (they're normal dinner time is about 7 pm). I then immediately realized that I had in fact already fed them. The next couple minutes were spent debating with myself whether or not I had actually fed them. Finally I decided that I had absolutely no idea! Being the good mommy that I am, I decided that I should probably feed them anyways, just in case...the dogs didn't complain one bit!

Boy or Girl?

So my friend Kelly is due with her second child at the end of August, about three weeks before my due date. She just found out yesterday that she is having a boy! Her little Emmeline is going to be a great big sister!

Kelly used this Chinese Gender Chart with both of her kids and it predicted correct! So far, all of her friends and family that have used this chart for their children have predicted correctly. We'll find out in about a month whether or not the chart is right for me too. If it is, watch out Nakamotos, it'll be another boy!

Bun in the Oven

I never though I would have a blog, but I also never thought I would be married with a baby on the way by age 25. It's hard for me to believe that anyone would ever be interested in my thoughts and experiences enough to spend the time reading about them, except maybe my own mother. Thanks to the insistence of a close and very persistent friend though, I have decided to share my pregnancy experiences with all my dear friends and family near and far (especially the far).

So as of today I am 15 weeks pregnant, just into my second trimester. My due date is September 17th, 2013. Delmar and I are extremely excited! We are keeping very busy working on the house and the yard so that everything is ready before the baby arrives. We recently bought a barrier for my car forcing the dogs to stay in the back together since they won't be able to jump around the back seat once there's a baby strapped in. Sophie does not like it but I think the two of them will be used to it come September.

I was extremely fortunate to not suffer from morning sickness during my first semester. I was (and still am) mostly just very hungry and very tired all the time, but this girl is not going to complain about eating and sleeping more!

This past week I have really started to "feel pregnant". I'm feeling a lot of pressure in my belly, everything thing feels like it's moving around and adjusting position down there and I am starting to show a tiny bit. I just bought a belly band and a pair of maternity jeans which are so much more comfortable than my regular jeans! And I'm going pee like crazy!!!

My doctor says that I am extremely healthy and so is the baby. We did have one little scare a couple weeks ago but everything is fine. The one good thing that came out of that awful experience was that Delmar was able to convince the ER doc to print out a copy of the ultrasound for us. So here you go, this is Baby Tompkins at 13 weeks:

I have my next check up in two weeks (beginning of week 17) and then we'll have the ultrasound to see if we're having a boy or a girl three weeks after that!

Well, I think that's enough for now. I love you all and I thank you for your support during this incredible journey.

Love,
Sarah