God Gave Us Two

From Mike: My children are a precious gift from God. These are words I must utter to myself as I am awoken from sweet slumber at 2am to the hungry cries of my 5-month-old. It’s my mantra as I arrive home from a 10-hour workday to find my 19-month-old having an ear-piercing temper tantrum in the middle of the kitchen floor. It’s my battle cry while cleaning spit-up off of my favorite t-shirt, or changing an eye-watering diaper blowout, or spending our hard-earned money on baby formula and diaper rash cream. However, it’s also my thanksgiving prayer this year, because my children ARE a precious gift from God! It’s awesome how emphasizing one word in that phrase transforms it from a mere statement of fact, into a reminder that God is our sovereign provider. It’s my hope this holiday season, that you might view God’s gifts as a blessing, rather than a burden, and give thanks to Him who provides all things. With all that said, here’s what’s been happening with the Nishis lately: Our annual tour of the US took us to Arkansas in early October. Against our better judgment, we brought the girls with us…and it turned out to be a great trip! We had the opportunity to stay in two of the most gorgeous places Arkansas has to offer. The first was a very rustic cabin tucked away in the wilderness of Petit Jean Mountain in central Arkansas. While there was an overt lack of modern technology, (i.e. TV) this quaint little chalet was complete with electricity and running water, a spiral staircase, heart-shaped shower, and even an indoor swing! We spent some time exploring the mountain and spent the nights quietly reading, chatting, and listening to the rain patter on the roof. Our second destination took us atop the highest point in Arkansas – Mount Magazine. Again, we stayed in a cabin, but this one was a bit more updated, with cable and internet access, but the best part, by far, was the back porch that overlooked the Petit Jean River Valley. The views were incredible! Did I mention this amazing back porch also had a private hot tub? Well, it did…and it was awesome. The weeks following the trip were generally uneventful, although often peppered with random outings, nights out on the town, and of course, football. One such night out took us to Fort Collins to see Tap Dogs with Beth and Matt. Tap Dogs is a modern tap dance show set in a construction site and performed by lumberjack-costumed men in heavy work boots. It was both funny and entertaining and we would highly recommend seeing them next time they’re in town! After a lay-off scare that briefly had us thinking Kelly would be out of a job, (which, thankfully, appears to be over) Kelly took a quick business trip to Chicago in late October and came home bragging about all the delicious Chicago-style deep-dish pizza she ate…my mouth still waters just thinking about what it must’ve tasted like. Suffice it to say, I was jealous. The following week was Halloween, which was especially fun for us since we got to dress Olivia and Sophia in adorable costumes and proudly show them off to the neighborhood. Olivia wore a kitty costume and Sophia wore Olivia’s penguin costume from last year. Both kiddos were oozing cuteness, and we were sure to capture it with what seemed like thousands of pictures. We also hosted a successful pumpkin carving party that had the house full of friends, kids, and pumpkin innards. Olivia started up another round of swimming lessons last month and has proven to us that she’s quite the little water baby. She loves being in the pool and is actually getting the hang of kicking and paddling. It’s absolutely amazing watching her grow, learn, and interact with her surroundings. It seems like she learns to say a new word daily and more tightly wraps me around her little finger each time she says “I…love…daddy.” Sophia continues to be our squishy little butterball who I lovingly refer to as my “goo” – one of the few sounds she likes to say while conversing with others. While Sophie prefers to sit quietly in her jumperoo, watching the world busily move around her, any attention she gets brings to her face an adorably toothless smile that lights up the room. Well that’s our update for the fall. Happy Thanksgiving!!

Four Months Late...

So I realized recently I haven't updated the blog at all since Sophia's birth. Poor baby! I wanted to at least get her birth story recorded, so here it is: I was due on the 14th (a Thursday), but had been dilated to 5cm since the beginning of June. Since I was already so far along, we kept thinking the baby would be coming any time. Especially since the doctor kept telling us to be prepared. But, I wasn't really having any contractions, just Braxton Hicks. The problem with being told "any minute" is that you expect the baby to come every minute of the day! Even though she wasn't even due yet, by the week I was due I felt like she had overstayed her welcome. Every day I would tell her "It's a great day to be born, Sophia!" But she was too cozy. The Wednesday before I was due (the 13th) I had some contractions that seemed a little different than usual. They seemed like real contractions except they didn't hurt. Since I had already been so far along at my last appointment, my doctor had me come in to the hospital to check things out. When we got there, they were so busy that they put us in an "extra" room, which was basically a storage closet with a bed. The doctor came and examined me and said I wasn't in active labor and that since they were so busy anyway it was probably best that I just go home and come back if it got worse. If it didn't, she would just see my at my appointment that Friday. I was really hoping not to make that appointment... But, alas, there I was at 11am on Friday the 15th. They did an ultrasound to see how she was doing and so we could figure out what the plan would be for inducing. The ultrasound looked good so we were planning to continue the waiting game. We were scheduled to see a doctor other than Dr. Eastman-Gallo, so we got all settled in the exam room after our ultrasound. A few minutes later a nurse came in. She said that Dr. EG had specially requested to see us and so we needed to change rooms. We did and when she came into the room, Dr. EG said "So, do you want to have a baby today??" She was thinking that the reason I wasn't really feeling contractions was that the ultrasound showed a very large amount of fluid. She said the contractions were just pressing on the fluid, making them hard to notice. When she did her exam she determined that I was about 7cm. So, she told Mike to go home and get our stuff and she sent me to the hospital. On our way out the door she told me she wanted to get me delivered by the end of the day at 5pm, it was 12pm now. When I got to the hospital the nurses thought I was crazy. They were like "um why are you here?" When I told them my doctor had sent me over to deliver they asked if I was in pain and I said no, but I was 7cm, making them even more suspicious. Nonetheless, they got me all settled into a room and I waited there for Mike to get back with our stuff. We called our family and then waited for the epidural. After the epidural, I wasn't really progressing, so Dr. EG came by and broke my water. There was an unbelievable amount of fluid and she wasn't at all surprised that I hadn't been feeling my contractions. She was hoping that breaking my water would make my labor progress further but I was still only about 8cm, so they decided to give me a low dose of Pitocen. This made my contractions start to come a little bit harder. Soon I was dilated to 10cm and it was time to start pushing. At about 4:45, the nurse told me to go ahead and start and she'd call the doctor in a little bit. Well I got about halfway through one push and she said "Stop! Don't push anymore, I have to get the doctor here right now." So I held off and waited until Dr. EG got there at 5:00. When she arrived, I pushed two or three more times and there was Sophia! She was born at 5:03pm and was 8 lbs, 15 oz, 21 inches long. I told the doctor I had honored her request to be done around 5! Sophia had dark hair and I was thinking she was going to be another baby who looked like Mike! I got her onto my chest right away and Mike got to cut the cord. The doctor said it was a good thing we had decided to go ahead and deliver because the placenta was really calcified and wouldn't have lasted much longer. Soon after delivery, they moved me into another room and our family and friends came to visit us there. Beth was watching Olivia so she brought her by to meet her new sister. However, Olivia didn't seem very interested in the baby, just in playing in the hospital room. That night we adjusted to having baby #2. I was in a lot of pain from my contractions, which get worse with each pregnancy, and Sophia was a very loud cryer! The nurse kept coming in to try to help us calm her down because she said she could hear her down the hallway. All in all it wasn't too bad though and we made it through our two nights at the hospital. When we came home, Beth had decorated our house to welcome Sophia and had stocked our fridge with lots of goodies to enjoy. It was both strange and exciting to be at home with our new family of four! Since then, things have been pretty wild around here. It seems like someone is always crying and someone always needs something. They both like to have all the attention, which can definitely lead to some jealousy. But, overall Olivia seems to be loving sisterhood. She is always trying to burp, feed or hug the baby. Whenever Sophia starts crying Olivia is there with a pacifier to try to calm her down and when Sophia gets her diaper changed, Olivia lays down on the floor to get hers done too. I guess that's about it for my belated Sophia update. She's in the 97% percentile for weight and growing every day. She has gorgeous blue eyes except her right eye has a little speck of brown in it. For the first few months she had an umbilical hernia, but it seems to be getting better now and her only ailment is a clogged tear duct in her left eye that leaves her eye goobers just about every morning. She loves to play with her rattle that she shakes all around, she smiles at mommy and daddy every chance she gets, she eats like a champ and sleeps well at night, and her favorite hobby (besides watching her big sister) is sitting with daddy and watching football on TV. Those big guys in bright colors always seem to calm her down. We love our little butterball and can't wait to watch her grow up!

Birthdays and Baby Steps

From Mike: Has it really been over a year since I contributed to this blog? Man, I obviously suck at pulling my weight around here. Anyway, here’s what 2012 has brought to the Nishi household so far… We returned to Winter Park in January for our annual ski trip. We were fortunate to stay in the same house that we rented two years ago, which to our surprise and delight was newly equipped with ping-pong and air hockey tables! We enjoyed a fun and relaxing weekend of laughing, lounging, and sledding with friends, and got to soak up the beauty of God’s wintery creation, which we all so often take for granted. As most of you know, with the pending arrival of Baby Nishi #2, Kelly and I decided to put our townhouse on the market last August. Well, after our first two offers fell through, we were beginning to believe that God didn’t want us to move after all. However, after 6 months of praying and waiting on God to deliver, we finally got a third (cash) offer, which we eagerly accepted. Although the whole experience was an emotional roller coaster of real estate woes, and a true test of our faith and patience, in the end God was faithful. He also gave us the new house we had been eyeing, a quick and painless loan approval, and the best mortgage rate our lender had seen in over two decades! What do you know? Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said that if we believe, we will receive whatever we ask for in prayer! We closed on both properties on February 10th and began moving into our new digs that same day. After a myriad of address changes, utility transfers, furniture-arranging, picture-hanging, wall-painting, and weed-pulling, we’re finally starting to settle down, and are enjoying the process of transforming the house into our home. March was a month of celebrations that began with our 4-year anniversary! Fortunately, our anniversary always falls during Denver Restaurant Week, so we get an opportunity to eat at a restaurant that’s typically out of our price range. This year, it was the Vesta Dipping Grill in downtown Denver. The March celebrations also included two other anniversaries and five birthdays, including mine. Since I was turning 30 this year, Kelly figured that I should experience as many adventures as possible beforehand; lest I have any regrets as I ring in a new decade, and mourn the loss of my youth. As a result, she planned five surprise “adventures” for me to enjoy each weekend until I officially turned “old.” (Apparently, partaking in most of these activities when you’re six months pregnant is frowned upon, so poor Kelly was forced to sit out) The first weekend, Beth and I went indoor skydiving! After a short tutorial on proper skydiving position, we suited up, and stepped into the wind tunnel and were blasted upwards by winds up to 200 mph! It was quite an experience floating around the clear glass tube, and trying not to do a face-plant into the mesh of wire that made up the floor. Overall, it was a great time, and I can’t wait to go back! The next adventure was a trip to an indoor bouldering gym called The Spot. Daniel and I went to the gym in North Boulder and pretended to know what we were doing as we climbed around on the rocks and tried not to make fools of ourselves. After a taxing few hours of straining muscles we haven’t used in years, we admitted defeat, and headed home exhausted and sore, but motivated to return. The third adventure took us down to Morrison to a go-kart track; only these weren’t ordinary go-karts. These particular karts can go up to 55 mph! Joined by Matt, Carter, and Beth, I geared up, (with jumpsuit, full helmet, gloves, and even an anti-whiplash neck brace) and were escorted to our karts. Racing around the track in those karts made 10 laps fly by, but it was insanely exciting, and the experience is one I hope to repeat soon. Adventure #4 was a day of snowboarding at Winter Park. Jacob and I headed up early one Friday morning, ready for a full day of gnar-shredding. Unfortunately, we were greeted by a mountain covered with sub-par snowfall, consisting of mostly icy packed-powder. As the sunny day went on, the ice turned into slush, and made for even less desirable conditions. After lunch, we decided to call it a day and head home. Despite the uncooperative terrain, it was great to get outside, get some exercise, and enjoy the scenery. The fifth and final adventure, and my personal favorite, was a round of golf at Arrowhead Golf Club in south Littleton. I met up with Alex, and thoroughly enjoyed the amazing scenery, the amenities offered by the all-inclusive course, and actually managed to play a decent game. I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present! I was also fortunate to spend the day with Alex because later that day Kelly and I attended his going away party. Earlier in the month, Alex was offered a job as the site pastor for a church in Asheville, North Carolina. The bittersweet news brought mixed emotions of happiness and excitement for Alex’s opportunity to further pursue his calling, but also deep sadness because it meant the inevitable dissolution of our tight-knit church here in Denver. While we will sorely miss Alex, Katey and Josiah, and cherish the times we got to spend together, we are now plagued by the arduous task of finding a new church. We rounded out our March by attending Amy and Zack’s wedding in Estes Park, which also gave us an opportunity to spend a night at the historic Stanley Hotel! In other news, Olivia turned 1 on April 4th! It’s hard to believe a year has passed since that unforgettable day in the hospital. Kelly and I fall in love with our sweet little girl more and more everyday as she continues to grow, learn, babble, and develop a personality of her own. It’s amazing how becoming a parent changes you. I think Kelly and I are better people for it, now that there’s a little person in the world that we are solely responsible for. Neither of us are the center of attention any longer, and perhaps that’s a good thing! Around that same 1-year milestone, Olivia took her first steps! It’s amazing, and also pretty funny, to watch her waddle around trying to keep her balance. It’s a good thing she’s got that puffy diaper to break her fall! Now if only she’d grow some teeth! Kelly is now officially in her third trimester of pregnancy with baby Nishi #2. (Just to clarify, that’s #2 in chronological order, not preferential order…) Despite the unrelenting discomfort, Kelly has managed to maintain a positive attitude, and is looking great! The baby is measuring normal, has a strong heartbeat, and according to Kelly, is constantly moving. We can’t wait to meet her in June! Well, that’s a wrap. Until next time!

2011 Wrap-up

How many changes can one year bring? Well, we gained a family member, had a baby, bought a house and then started growing a second baby. Still with me? I will elaborate.

In January, we went on a ski trip to Frisco where we enjoyed the slopes and the company of good friends, as well as our last chance for a childless getaway. We followed the ski trip with an outstanding baby shower hosted by our best friend, Beth, and attended by all our loved ones. My mom married her college sweetheart, Lynn Wright, on March 11th in a small ceremony in Lafayette and a third legit grandfather was in place for the impending arrival of…

Olivia Rosalyn Nishi! Born on Monday, April 4th at 7:51pm, she was 7 pounds and 19.5 inches long. Labor only lasted about eight hours and went very smoothly. We were happy to deliver at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette where we stayed two days before bringing home the new center of our world.

After Olivia was born, our life was a whirlwind of loving visitors bringing us meals, doing our laundry (thanks, Heather!) and taking care of the baby while we slept. We felt so incredibly blessed to have so many helpers at a time when we felt like we were completely clueless.

By June, we were finally starting to get the hang of things well enough to get out of the house, so we attended Deborah and Charles’ wedding in Boulder. Once I returned to work, I was off to Houston and DC on business trips and learned how incredibly hard it is to leave my little girl. When I got back, we went on vacation with Mike’s family to Glenwood Springs for Floyd and Suzanne’s 60th birthdays. One highlight of the trip was a segway tour we took to an overlook up the mountain. Olivia’s highlight was her first dip in the water when we took her to the Glenwood Hot Springs. Upon returning to Denver, we took Olivia to a Rockies game with Mike’s work and participated in a music class, which she loved.

In July, Olivia took her first trip out of the state—to see her grandparents in Wyoming. While Mike and I spent most of the trip fading into the background while the grandparents doted over Olivia, we also went fishing and enjoyed the fresh air. August had us back up to the mountains for a church retreat in Vail where Olivia tried her first solid food and enjoyed fun a trip to the pool. The pool trip was so successful, in fact, that we have since signed her up for a swim class, where she’s having fun splashing and learning to float.

September was Olivia’s first time on an airplane—to Arizona. We visited Phoenix, Sedona and Flagstaff, where we spent time poolside (again), visited a cave with its own underground hotel room and saw the Grand Canyon!

When we got back from our trip, I joined a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) group where I’ve met lots of other moms. I took a quick business trip to LA, Mike took one to DC and then the fall got even better when two dear friends had babies of their own. Lindsey and Anand were blessed with Sophia Viveka and then Hannah and Simon welcomed Keturah Leigh.

The fall rounded out with one last business trip to DC for Mike and then one for me too. We celebrated Thanksgiving by heading back up to Wyoming—enjoying Crystal’s cooking and watching lots of football.

In December, we are looking forward to Justin and Lauren’s nuptials in Denver and then Vince and Saranga tying the knot in New Jersey. We plan to spend Olivia’s first Christmas at home in our new house! This summer/fall we sold our house and bought a new one in Suzanne and Floyd’s neighborhood, which is near where we are now. It’s got a yard, a basement, a bigger garage and more rooms, which is good because… we’re expecting another baby!!

To our complete surprise and joy, we found out recently that Baby Nishi #2 is due June 14th. We are excited to be growing our family and can’t wait to find out the baby’s gender this January.

The year always seems so busy when I pack it all into one letter! I promise we also spent countless hours lazing on the couch watching Grey’s Anatomy and staring insatiably at our perfect, beautiful daughter. Mike is still working as an auditor for the Department of Defense and I’m working part time as a marketing consultant at MWH (a construction company), as well as for 252 Basics (an elementary-age Sunday school curriculum). We’re attending Eikon, a small church in Denver, and really enjoying the close relationships it has brought us.

We wish you all the best and hope that you are seeing God work in wonderful ways all around you. Have a happy and blessed holiday season and please give us a call or drop us an email. We are so happy to have you as a part of our lives and as a part of our kids’ lives. Mike and I truly hope you know how much you mean to our family.