Our Baby Girl is Here!

Our little bundle of joy has finally arrived!

Jason and I went to the hospital around 4am because I had been having contractions that were 5 minutes apart, and they were getting pretty uncomfortable. At the hospital we found out I was already dilated to 6cm. Thank goodness I wasn't too late to get the epidural. It was getting hard to breathe through the contractions.

Here I am all hooked up and ready to go. Unfortunately, baby wasn't quite ready. It took a while to get past 9cm.


Leiohu Lily YiTsai Chen was born at 8:11am. She weighs 7lbs. 10 oz. and is 20 inches long. We can'y believe how much she weighs because all of her sisters were LESS THAN 7lbs. Jason was going to cut the umbilical cord, but found out he couldn't because it was wrapped around baby's neck--loosely. Everything turned out okay though.

Here she is!


The nurse who helped get me ready was Vickie. This is a picture of the nurse who helped with the delivery (after changing shifts) with Leiohu and me. Her name was Jodie.


Jason, the proud father enjoys his new daughter:


Later, Jason went home to get mom and the girls. They were all SO anxious to see their new sister.

Here's Anuhea with her newest little sister:


Nalani LOVED holding her sister:


Hokulani was very proud to be able to hold her little sister, and is excited to be a big sister:


Mom holds her newest granddaughter:


Welcome, Leiohu!

Poll Closed

Sorry, but I have closed the "favorite colors" poll because it's having a problem. Maybe we'll try another one some time.

The Due Date Has Arrived, but the Baby Has Not

June 28th is the baby's due date, but here I am at 6:30pm with only one Braxton Hicks contraction so far--all day.

We spent all day out at stores and my feet were killing me. I was also very tired by the time we returned home. However, I'm STILL not having contractions. I'm thinking that sometime when I stand up or do something my water will break, but there's no such luck here.

I hope I won't have to go to my next doctor appointment--on Tuesday--because I want to have this baby!

New Poll

I forgot to mention that I added a new poll to our blog yesterday. It's about colors. Hokulani helped pick which colors to use as the options.

Vote today!

Chickens

We go to the Oviedo Library to borrow books. The children love it because they love to read. Jason and I are very happy that they like reading.

A while ago we discovered a rooster hanging around the grounds of the library. Later we noticed a hen with the rooster. After a while the hen had 4 chicks following her around. The rooster was always around to protect them too.

The chicks are much bigger now, and we saw them again this morning. It's always so exciting to see them since we saw them almost from the beginning. Unfortunately, we don't know what happened to the hen.

Here they are. . .

A library patron fed the chickens some crackers or something.





The big one in the foreground is the rooster (dad).


Here's the rooster (on the right) leading the young ones.

Fun at the Mall

We went to the mall this morning to get some shoes. Carmel and Hokulani got new shoes at Payless. After eating lunch in the food court, Nalani and Hokulani had fun on some of the little rides in the mall.

Nalani and Hokulani rode the Kiddie Coaster. They look at a screen that makes it seem like they're on a rollercoaster. The ride also goes up and down so it will (kind of) feel like they're on a rollercoaster.





Next, Nalani and Hokulani rode the Fun Bus.



Hokulani and Nalani also got to ride a red sports car:



There was a vending machine that sold Dippin' Dots (ice cream). Anuhea got to buy some. She got the rainbow flavor and LOVED IT. She also shared with her sisters.

Jason--in style

When Jason washes his hair at night, this is somewhat how his hair looks the next morning. Do you think this should be his new hairstyle? We had a good laugh before he fixed it back to normal.

Still No Baby

Jason took me to the doctor this morning for my weekly checkup. I was hoping I wouldn't make it to this appointment because the baby would have already arrived. I guess I was hoping in vain.

The doctor said I'm still not even dilated! Ugh! I told him, "We were hoping you wouldn't say that." He said he can't even induce me (which I didn't want anyway, but wouldn't mind at this point), because he can't even break the water. I have another appointment next week, but I better have this baby before then.

I'm not due until Saturday, June 28th, but WHAT IS THIS BABY WAITING FOR?!

I FINALLY GOT MY RIPSTIK!

Nalani has been wanting a Ripstik (like a skateboard). We told her it was too expensive so she has been earning money to buy it. She had money from birthdays or whatever, but she also earned money by mowing our lawn. Fortunately, she doesn't mind mowing the lawn. She actually likes it.

Today Jason and I asked Nalani to count her money and she had enough to get the Ripstik. Jason had actually bought it last week because it was on sale, so when he came out of the room with it, Nalani was so excited. She gasped in amazement, and clung to her father with gratitude. Here's the picture of it:



Nalani proudly stands with her new Ripstik, which is almost as tall as her!


This is a video of Nalani's first attempts on her Ripstik. It was a lot harder than she thought it would be:

This is a video of Nalani about an hour or so after her first attempt. She's catching on quickly!

Snuggle Worms

Nalani and Hokulani are sleeping on sleeping bags while Mom/Granny visits. They've also decided (after Granny asked) to sleep in the same room as Granny.

The two girls always think they need to cuddle up next to or with something or someone when they're sleeping. Here, Nalani proves it by putting her arm over Hokulani while sleeping.

Cute Hokulani

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Hokulani loves having her picture taken. I decided to take a picture of her in a dress she just got from her Granny (it's a hand-me-down from cousins). Of course she was willing.

Hokulani's hands are crossed because she wants to show her ring from Granny and Grampy, but you probably can't see it. She also wanted to wear a bracelet so I let her wear a Noah's Ark charm bracelet that we have.

Isn't she so cute? (We, as parents, are always biased.)

Martinez Wedding

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Mom drove the girls and me to Target. We bought some things that we still need or want for the baby. Hokulani also got to use some of her birthday money to buy a tea (juice) set for 4 people. She was so excited. Hokulani carried the tea set around the store with her, and then she paid for the set herself.

After leaving Target, we went to Borders bookstore. Everyone stayed in the car while I went in. I had a coupon and wanted to buy the book, The Host, by Stephenie Meyer. I was excited to get it for less than expected, and at more of a discount than the coupon was for.

Jason's home teaching companion is Cary Martinez. Cary's wife is Joalice. Their son, David, got married today to Antonia. Jason and I attended their reception at the church building. I didn't want to go because I'm so uncomfortably pregnant, but decided to go to accompany Jason. I'm so glad I went after all.

The wedding couple was beautiful! They looked so good together, and happy. The bride's wedding gown was beautiful. I don't think Antonia speaks English. She is from Brazil. However, she was very friendly, and kept smiling even as we all visited and congratulated.

Here's a picture of David and Antonia taking a break from greeting everyone:

There were four wedding cakes on tiered stands. They looked good, but we didn't stay long enough to eat them.

Here's the wedding cake topper:

At the reception we also got to eat dinner. The food was delicious, and all of it was made by the Martinez's neighbor. She also did all of the decorations. Jason and I were disappointed in our ward members because not a lot of people attended the reception, but we were glad we made it.

Shop, shop, shop

Today was a busy shopping day. Thankfully, I didn't have to go to all of the places the rest of the family did.

This morning we started out by going to the Wal Mart Neighborhood Market to get food. It took a while to get all the different things we needed, because we'd remember something else we needed. Luckily we could all go to different sections, if needed, to look for the items.

When we got home from Wal Mart, Jason and I stayed home. I ate lunch before taking a nap. Mom took the girls to Oviedo Marketplace (the mall) to eat lunch and look around at the shops. Jason ended up napping too, and even woke up before Mom and the children returned home.

Mom bought 3 items of clothing for Anuhea. They look very nice on her, and she looked older when she tried them on and showed them to us (even if they were just regular clothes). They also brought home something like soft pretzel sticks from the pretzel shop at the mall. Mmm, mmm, good.

Jason and I worked on trying to hook up our digital converter box again. We couldn't get it to work when we first bought it. This time it worked! We're so excited to get clear pictures on all the channels our t.v. can get. Even with the "rabbit ears" antenna, we couldn't get clear pictures for most channels, but now it's SO much better.

After everyone rested we went to dinner at IHOP (International House of Pancakes). Mom wanted to go there and we all like eating there so we didn't mind. We were all so stuffed by the time we finished our food, but everything was delicious.

Next, we went back to Oviedo Marketplace to go to Sears. Mom bought us a DVD/VCR combination machine. We haven't had a DVD player since we moved back to the U.S., and rather than have 2 machines we can use 1 machine. Thanks Mom (and Dad)! Mom also bought some clothes.

We got home tired. Anuhea was ready to collapse from exhaustion, but mostly because it was past her bed time. Unfortunately, Anuhea had touched something at Sears that gave her an allergic reaction on her right hand. I put some hydrocortisone on her hand and hope it helps her be more comfortable.

Dumplings. . .mmmmm

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Everyone except Carmel went grocery shopping. They came home with loads of food, and we had to figure out where to put everything.

Nalani loves playing Checkers now for some reason, and she convinced Granny to play with her. They're playing Checkers here, and we all enjoyed grapes. Granny won, by the way.



Later in the day, Hokulani had her dance class and Nalani had her acrobatics class. They have their classes at different times, which is not very convenient. After dropping off Nalani at her class, Mom drove with Carmel and Hokulani to the library to pick up books that were being held for us. Jason and Anuhea stayed home to make dumplings (see below).

Jason made dumplings for dinner and we LOVE it when he makes dumplings. When they're homemade--by Jason--they're the best. (Sometimes Anuhea special requests Jason's dumplings--that's how good they are.)

Here's a picture of the dumplings after they've been wrapped. Anuhea helped Jason wrap them.



Here's a picture of the dumplings after they've been cooked. Jason cooked them.



Jason also made abalone soup with chicken. Carmel is supposed to drink the soup to help with delivery of the baby. It was delicious!

This picture shows the abalone with the can showing what it is in Chinese:



This picture shows the abalone with the can showing what it is in English:

My mom is finally here!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

We have been waiting not only for the arrival of our new baby, but also the arrival of my (Carmel's) mom.

The baby has not arrived yet, but my mom has. Yeah!!!!!

Anuhea, Nalani, and Hokulani were very anxious for Granny (that's what they call my mom) to get here. It was so hard to wait until evening--that's when she arrived. We all decided to go to the airport, instead of having Jason go alone. When the children saw their Granny going toward the car, they scrambled to get out as fast as they could so they could greet her.

At home the children had to get ready for bed, but not before giving their Granny an earful.



Mom brought all kinds of goodies for our family and we're so excited. We got food, like portuguese sausage, poi, arare (Japanese rice crackers, for those of you who don't know)--(Thank you, Aunty Cindy), and CHOCOLATE COVERED MACADAMIA NUTS (Carmel's favorite candy from Hawaii). The children also got little trinkets.

1 and 1/2 weeks to go!

I went to the doctor (Obstetrician) for my weekly visit. Jason and I were very disappointed to find out that I'm still not dilated.

My mom will be here tomorrow night so after tomorrow night would be better for baby to arrive, but we want to see her (the baby)! We're tired of waiting, and I'm tired of being uncomfortable.

The Crib

Monday, June 16, 2008

We finally got the crib for baby (who should be arriving any day now). We actually bought it on Saturday, but were so busy that we reserved Monday for assembly.

Carmel's father will be so proud to know that his granddaughters were the ones who put the crib together--and they did a great job! Carmel did the supervising (and read the instructions), while Anuhea and Nalani assembled the crib. Hokulani did a little to help in the beginning, but there wasn't a whole lot she could do so she decided to play.


Here is the completed crib. We got the crib that comes with a changing table.


Here are the children by the crib. Aren't they wonderful?


Now all we need is the baby!

Stolen sweet potato leaves!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Nalani has been faithfully watering a sweet potato plant that Jason planted in our backyard. We were getting a lot of leaves on the plant, and it was starting to spread nicely. Some of the leaves were even getting purple on them.

Hokulani went outside to water it this morning and discovered that most of the leaves were gone! At first Jason thought an animal had eaten them, but the stems are cut straight across. Someone stole our sweet potato leaves! We can't believe someone would actually come into our backyard and cut the leaves. Why?

This is a picture of what's left. It's a little hard to tell with all the grass around it, but there are still some small leaves left.


This picture shows the cut stems:


Here's a closer picture of the cut stems. Jason's fingers (blurred at the bottom) are holding one of the stems.

Happy Father's Day!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day to all of you fathers!

1. We're very grateful to our Father in Heaven for all that we have.
2. We're grateful to our earthly fathers, Chen-hsiang Chen and Alfredo Bulusan.
3. We're grateful for our husband and father, Jason.

We're ready for our Father's Day meal that Jason specially requested and Carmel prepared. From left to right: Jason, Nalani, Anuhea, and Hokulani:


This is another picture like the one above, but Carmel is in the picture and Anuhea is taking the picture:


Here's a picture of the meal (minus the rice). We had BBQ baked ribs, corn on the cob, and baked beans.

No baby yet

It is officially 2 weeks before baby's due date.

We're impatiently waiting for baby to arrive and Carmel is feeling uncomfortable every day. The baby could arrive any day now. We're crossing our fingers for sooner rather than later.

All Dressed Up

Here are pictures of us in what we wore to the wedding reception. It was nice to dress up and go out.

(Tallest to shortest: Anuhea, Nalani, Hokulani):


One of the rare pictures of Jason and Carmel together. Although we spend a lot of time together, we don't often get pictures taken of us.

Dimmick/Sloat Wedding Reception

As if we hadn't done anything all day, we went out yet again. This evening was a wedding reception for the daughter of members in our ward--the Oviedo Ward. Christine Dimmick married Cameron Sloat. The Dimmicks are in our ward.

The reception was held at the Dimmicks' home, and it was very nice. They have a large house and the layout was great for a receiving line, refreshments, sitting and visiting, and the wedding cake. They had rolls for sandwiches, sandwich meats, cheese slices, pasta salad, fruit on a stick, vegetables on a stick, lemonade, and water. They also had a table with chocolate covered oreos (with an "S" for "Sloat" on it), goldfish crackers, Hershey's kisses, M&Ms, carrot sticks, more fruit on a stick, and other goodies.

This is a picture of the wedding cake. Isn't it beautiful?


Chrissy and Cameron are cutting the cake:


Open wide!


We got to eat a piece of the wedding cake and it was very good. Great choice!

Shop till you drop!

We had a busy day--almost all day. We started out by going to the Asian market on the west side of town. It always seems to take FOREVER to get there. Jason needed to buy some things we'll need after the baby arrives. I need to eat certain kinds of food. Thank goodness they're good.

The second stop was to Chick-fil-A. Nalani and Hokulani received coupons from school for free meals so we all ate lunch there.

Next was a quick stop at COSTCO. Jason got gas in the van while the children and I bought more children's vitamins.

The fourth stop was to Wal Mart. We got some things we needed, but I wanted most to find out when we could get the crib we want. The crib has been out of stock, and there was no way to find out when the store would get more. Finally, a woman in the customer service department located the crib at another store location and asked them to hold it for us.

So our fifth stop was to Wal Mart--at a different location. After dropping off our things at home, especially since we had bought food at the Asian market, we went to pick up the crib. We also got a crib mattress.

When we got home we all took a nap. Well, I can't say if Nalani and Hokulani actually napped, but the rest of us did. Boy, did it feel good to lie down!

Doctor Visit

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

I went in for my weekly checkup with the obstetrician.

Jason drove me to the appointment, and since school's out the children had to come too. Fortunately, the visit was very short and it wasn't crowded in the waiting room.

I have 2-1/2 weeks until baby's due date, but was still disappointed to find out that I haven't even started dilating yet.

Deer!!!!!

This morning when I woke up I opened the blinds to the slidind door at the back of our house. It's my routine every morning. I only opened it a little because the sun shines in and makes the house hot. After I open the blinds, I always look out to see if anything's in the back yard. . .racoons, turtles, lizards, frogs, deer, anything.

I was so surprised when I looked out and saw a deer. Actually, it was a fawn! It had white spots all over and was so cute!

Jason got Nalani and Hokulani out of their room to come and see the fawn. We had to be very quiet because it had noticed that I opened the blinds, and was being cautious.

I grabbed the camera and tried to take a picture without making the blinds move. Then I noticed another deer; possibly the mom (a doe). It's on the right side of this picture.

We continued watching the deer for a while, even as they moved closer to the neighbor's yard. Soon we noticed a third deer. We couldn't believe our luck. Hokulani said it must be the dad, but we don't know.

We were so excited to see deer in our backyard after not seeing them for such a long time.

Hokulani's 6th Birthday

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Hokulani Leia YiChuan Chen is 6 years old today! She has been anxious for her birthday to arrive ever since we started planning for her sisters' birthdays earlier this year.

She wore one her Hawaiian dresses to church. She looked so cute!

Daddy and Mommy gave Hokulani a card. Here, she's reading the card with Daddy.


Inside the card from Daddy and Mommy was money. . .$6.00! Hokulani's here showing it off.


Hokulani's showing the front of her card here. There are seals on the front.


After church, we had the Caldwell family over for dinner. We ate chicken lasagna, shoyu chicken, rice, and salad.

It was nice to visit with them. They have 4 children and the girls played with them after eating.

For dessert we had brownies that the Caldwells baked. Yum!

We also had another birthday cake--chocolate, of course. Hokulani said she wanted chocolate cake.



Here's Hokulani's birthday cake:



This morning, when Jason woke up, this is how his hair looked. Crazy!