Our little girl's arrival date is less than a week away, and we are greatly awaiting her debut!
After much prayer, we have decided to name her Rylee Suzanne. "Rylee" means "bold and courageous," and also "protected." The spiritual connotation for "Suzanne" is "purity." We know that Rylee is protected by God, and we are so thankful for that! Our hope is that as she grows she will learn to guard and "protect" her own heart, and to keep her heart and mind pure for the Lord.

"Rylee" in Japanese is pronounced the same way in English, ライリー、and the Kanji we chose for her name is "来理," meaning "Coming Truth" or "One who brings truth." May this be prophetic for how God might use her, even as a baby in Japan!



Alice is having lots of fun "practice" contractions, that have gotten pretty intense at times, so we keep thinking, "... Could today be the day???" But, Rylee is keeping us guessing! In the meantime, we continue to enjoy our last few days with Kadin as our "only" child. We know that God is preparing him to be a big brother, and it is truly a treasure to watch him grow and change. He has such a compassionate heart, and is a very happy and gentle child. And he is already practicing his role as "Mommy's little helper," doing "chores" like handing Mommy the laundry from the basket to hang on the line, and learning to pick up after himself. (I am very grateful for this, because bending over to pick things up is now quite a challenge! ) He will be 2 at the end of November. My, time has flown!

Two of my pregnant friends have already had their babies. Chika, the friend with the same due date, is still awaiting the arrival of her son.We are in close contact by email, checking on each other often. She is now in her hometown with her parents so that they can help her after the birth. Her husband will head there from Tokyo as soon as he hears word that the baby is on the way.



We are so grateful to be surrounded by such an incredible support network -- church family and friends who are awaiting that middle-of-the-night call that we need help with Kadin so that we can head to the hospital. Since Rylee and I will be in the hospital for a week, it is a tremendous relief to know that Kadin will have many playmates and people to love on him when Sean is tired or busy. And then, both of our moms are getting to come, for about a week-and-a-half each! We are so grateful to God for such special gifts! My mom will arrive a few days after we bring Rylee home from the hospital, and Sean's mom will come at the end of November, two days after my mom leaves. We are so excited that each of them will get to bond with Rylee and Kadin! It makes being so far away a little more bearable!

Stay tuned for Rylee's arrival announcement! It will be accessible from our home page after she arrives!