Arthur Ellis

We welcomed our baby boy, Arthur Ellis, on June 2nd. 

He's named after my dad, Max Arthur, and a Navy veteran from Nathan's hometown named Ellis Tracy. We call him Archie. He came into the world so calm and has just been the most wonderful, peaceful baby. 

Here we are the day before Archie's birth.

I was up all night with contractions and (for once!) loved the time difference with the States because my sister, brother and I chatted the night away. At 5 am, I woke Nathan up to get to the hospital. An American neighbor came over to watch the boys - so nice that she was able to! We got to the Japanese hospital and things started moving quickly. Since the Japanese don't use any pain relief during childbirth, I popped Archie out without even one tylenol. Things got a little dicey with a few language barriers (does press mean push??) and some interesting directions (stop crying!), but in about an hour Archie arrived and we were thrilled. 

Right after he was checked out, the nurses left us to cuddle and be with him. We were so amazed at how mellow he was and investigated his features. His big lips and nose stood out right away - he's definitely ours! It was fun how much he reminded us of Leo and especially Wilson when they were first born. Here I am forgetting that you're supposed to redo your hair and pretend you're not exhausted for a nice picture to share! I opted instead for the I'm so glad it's over and I now have my baby look :)

Nathan was pretty emotional and the boys shared a sweet moment.

Wilson and Leo came in later during the day to inspect their new brother. 

They were so proud to hold him.

We still can't believe Leo's a big brother. 

Archie and I spent three days in the hospital looking at each other, eating wonderful food and watching two seasons of Downton Abbey. The Japanese hospital focus on caring for the mother was really nice and so different from my experiences in the U.S. A few hours after the birth I was given a great message and the care just continued from there for the rest of my time at the hospital. It was funny seeing Archie in the nursery with the Japanese babies who have a ton of jet black hair and are tiny. Archie was an average 7 lbs. 7 oz. but he just dwarfed the little Japanese babies. The nurses loved his hair and blue eyes. I loved his little Japanese outfit. 

The food was sooo yummy!

In Japan, it's customary that mom and baby spend 7-10 days in the hospital to recover and be taken care of. While the food made it tempting to stay longer, I was pretty ready to come home at day three.

The boys drove up to Fukuoka to pick up my mom from the airport while I showed Archie his new crib and settled back in at home. Even though he was a week early, Archie's arrival went as smoothly as possible. We are so happy to have this healthy and happy little guy in our family!

We love you little man!