Be careful...Being random is habit forming

Eleven years ago tonight, I was sitting alone in a maternity hospital....fighting bouts of nervous nausea and tears. Visiting hours were over and the nurses had cut all water, juice, snacks...pretty much everything I had begun to crave like a big dog....off for the night. Due to the fact that "little one" had spent the last 3 months not in the position he was supposed to be ...a c-section had been scheduled for the following day....and the final countdown had begun.

(The doctors had discussed trying to turn him before delivery, but... for that last 3 months, I had done exercises to help him flip around and get in the right direction, which, like the good little one he was, would do. But, then, after about 3 minutes, in an almost Alien-like fashion, he would slowly flwwwwooop...and he'd be right back to his earlier sitting position. It was quite entertaining to watch!! About one month before the delivery, the doctors were worried that with all the turning he had done, it looked as if there might be a chance the cord was around a foot. No one wanted to take any unnecessary chances.)

**And might I say, right now...just for the record...that I was oh so very happy for that scheduled surgery!! The idea of going through natural childbirth....no drugs what-so-ever...just made me sick to my stomach.
I. Am. A. Weenie. There...I said it. Plus...having so many friends so willing to share their birth stories...no..huh-uh...no. thank. you. Anyway.....

I have a bit of a birthday post for Issei tomorrow, but I wanted to share this with you....my little man...about 1 day old. Check out that hair, would you?!

The last few days have been kind of crazy. The school year is winding down and events at each of the boys' schools have kept me running.

On Wednesday, Koji's daycare had their monthly "happy shukai"....which is just a happy day where the oldest three classes have performances. This particular one was the last one of the year...his final one. Graduation is March 20 and on April 1, he will no longer be there.

He is starting to feel a little sad about not being able to see his friends after they all start 1st Grade. Koji, like Issei before him, is the only one from this neighborhood so will be "the lone ranger" in his 1st Grade class. I keep reminding him that he will make new friends, but that he can also make plans to play with his old friends. He's just going to a different school...NOT a different city!! A very hard concept for a 6-year-old to understand.

Anyway....I went to this 'final performance' and was treated to some very interesting music by his class....there were drums, maracas, xylophones, bells and I'm sure a few more instruments (after awhile it got really hard to separate the instruments!) . They played two songs: the first was a Japanese one I didn't recognize and then, a song that freaking drives me nuts and makes me want to hit someone when I hear it everyone knows, "It's A Small World"

**Koji having a "deer caught in the headlights" moment. He did actually sing...later.**

On Tuesday, I had gone to Issei's school for his class's end of the year hapyokai, or "performances and demonstrations". (Issei's group did something about balance...I'm pretty sure that's what it was....maybe!). At the end of the day, all the 5th Grade students sang a couple songs. It was a nice day and even though we were in the gym and it was freaking freezing, it was still a good day.

**Issei is in the middle...white baseball shirt with blue sleeves. I never really realized it, but, in the winter, he really is pale. In the summer he gets so dark....weird.

The ume (plum trees), and the momo, (peach trees) are really starting to blossom around where we live. It has been raining for most of the last 24 hours and I'm afraid that what buds and blossoms there were, are gone. I could be wrong and I hope that I am...but, I am preparing myself for what I find, or don't find, in the morning.

Which is why I am so glad that I took a picture of the ume tree in our garden the other day. The blossoms are so pretty and have such a lovely, sweet smell.

Aaaah....can spring be near?? One can only hope!