Big Day for Our Big Girl!

Yesterday, was an eventful day. I sat home and compulsively checked Facebook, text messages, email, justin.tv, and IM over and over awaiting news of the newest member of our family. Joseph's little sister, Emma, gave birth to a big baby boy (8 lbs. 10 oz.) named Odin. He controls the weather. Here's the proof:

You see, we had an extreme high pressure system stalled over us for a couple days. It's normally about 80* F in the South Bay this time of year. This is what we had on Tuesday at 6:30 pm:

It was insanely hot and even moreso inside our house. I'd been taking the kids out of the house the last few days. Yesterday we couldn't. I desperately needed to do laundry. There was a warm breeze blowing in my window. Ugh!

Anyway, with the time I had between loads, I kept checking back and forth between applications to see if there was anything new with Emma's progress. Then, just after 3:00 pm PST, which translates to 4:00 pm in UT, a cool breeze suddenly started blowing in through my window. AH! Relief! Then I got news that Odin had finally arrived. He was born at 4:09 pm MST.

That is my proof that Odin controls the weather. Thanks little man!! It's blissfully cool today.

And congratulations to Emma and Bryan!! I've linked their blog and Justin.tv broadcast above if you hadn't noticed.

Odin is Emma and Bryan's first child. Anxiously waiting for the happy news made me reminisce about when I was about to have Akiko and what an exciting adventure that turned out to be.

Akiko at 3 or 4 days old

Five years and four months later we've hit a milestone:

Akiko started Kindergarten today!!

Doesn't she look smart in her uniform? (Yes, that was meant as a double entendre.)

She started the day off with a breakfast made to order. We messed up, though, with the eggs. She asked for eggs that are "white on the outside and yellow in the middle." Turns out she wanted them hard-boiled, not sunnyside-up. She ate the eggs anyway. I made her hard-boiled eggs for an after school snack.

Then we made our way to school. We broadcast it on Justin.tv so that her grandparents could walk to school with her. They got a kick out of that.

Akiko met her teacher. She seems wonderful. I think it'll be a great year. (Sorry I didn't back up enough to get her teacher in the shot.)

Then Akiko was ready to learn!

It was an exciting day for all of us. The kids grow up so fast. Moses starts preschool next month already. It'll be just Asher and me for a few hours a couple days a week pretty soon. And that kid is growing fast, too!

Just this last week, he left the last remnants of his newborn-ness behind. He gets stronger and more alert every day and actively explores the world around him. He'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow.

*Sigh!* Sometimes I wish I could freeze time.

Oh, and guess what? Did you notice the quality of pictures? I got a new camera, finally!! I love it! (But not nearly as much as I love my kids!)

There are actually quite a few adventures that have happened in the last couple weeks, but I really wanted to get Akiko's first day of school up on the day it happened. The next couple posts will take us back in time. Till then...