Day10 pictures of Julianne

Julianne was born 5 lb. 13 oz. (2635 grams) and 18 inches ( 45 cm) in length—a little on the smaller side but that’s okay, she'll get bigger. Her facial features seem to be a little more defined since she Day 1. When babies are first born, I guess they kind of look odd. Now at Day 10, I think she looks a lot cuter than days 1-3. People say she has daddy's lips—I think so too, but she may have mommy's eyes.

Feeding Julianne is easier for me because I feed her with a bottle. I was surprised at how she gulped down a bottle of 70 mL milk. When she can drink 60-70 mL without stopping even once, it means she is hungry. She is feeding at about every 3 hours so her schedule is pretty regular right now.


Since we took Julianne home from the hospital on Boxing Day, it has been really exhausting because we don't get much sleep. But now we're taking shifts during the night. But following the holidays, after I return back to Prince Albert, Sask. on Jan. 2, Alice will stay at my parents place for another 2 weeks so grandma (my mom) can help take care of Julianne and cook for Alice while she recovers from her C-section. I hear it usually takes about a month to recover from these types of surgeries so it's great to have some parents (or grandparents) get involved in taking care of the baby. Well, this is the Asian-style communal family life where others get involved in taking care of the other family members. It also makes life a little easier.


Do you like her one-eyed picture below? She often does that when we pick her up to feed when she's still not fully awake or she is too lazy to open both eyes. She will open just one of her eyes to see who it is, then close it, and start drinking again. The one with her shifty eyes was a lucky photo-opportunity. She's a tough girl who is looking real serious--"Don't mess with me or else!"

Baby Julianne Hannah Sam has arrived

We have just received one of the greatest Christmas gifts ever this Friday. Our baby daughter, Julianne Hannah Sam, arrived on December 21, 2007 at 9:41 a.m. at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon. The operation-delivery went very well and Alice is recovering from her C-section. She will probably be able to go home on Monday. Baby Julianne was put into Neo-natal ICU so that the nurses can monitor her breathing more closely. She had a little trouble breathing right after delivery but she is steadily improving each day and no longer needs anymore supplementary oxygen. The nurses have been taking very good care of her. She is sleeping “like a baby” almost 24 hours a day. Her eyes have not yet opened and she cries every time she needs food and a diaper change. We have been able to feed her with milk formula Similac Lactose-Free. Alice is able to produce a little colostrum now (early stage of first-milk) so baby Julianne will be able to get some natural anti-biotics to fight off viruses and enzymes to help her digestion. (also see Kevin's Facebook album of baby Julianne)

Christmas and Charlie Brown

Charlie Brown really does know what Christmas is about.

Advent season, Advent liturgy, and the Advent wreath

The music for this litugy is "O Come, O Come Emmanuel" from A Quiet Knowing Christmas by Jeff Johnson - www.ArkMusic.com

The word Advent means “coming” or “arrival”. We celebrate the coming King, Jesus Christ, who is born into our world. This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent season. We will be lighting the Advent candle on the Advent wreath at Messiah Lutheran.

Dec. 21: our expected due date

We now know that our baby's expected due date will be Dec. 21, 2007--just in time for Christmas. It actually feels more exciting than Christmas as a kid. Maybe a church would like to have a real live Baby Jesus for their church's Christmas drama-production?....maybe not.

We will be going back in Saskatoon for the delivery at Royal University Hospital. Alice will likely stay in the hospital for a few extra days and we'll stay in Saskatoon at our parents' place for a few weeks. I think Mom will help out with the cooking. I'll help out by taking care of Baby and getting lots of practice changing daipers. We are feeling more excited each day as the day approaches. We already have a lot of baby stuff either given to us, or from second-hand garage sales this past summer.

We just finished 4-weeks of pre-natal classes and now I feel like a student with head knowledge but no practical experience with babies. There were a lot of things I didn`t know, e.g., there were two types of mother`s milk, epidermal is an optional pain-killer where a tube goes through the mother`s spine. Ughh....I`m glad I`m a father and won`t have to go through so much pain as a mother. That`s why we celebrate Mother`s Day in May.

Alice will stop working on Dec. 15 and I`ll take a break from internship from Dec. 20 to Jan. 1. Then return to Prince Albert for Jan. 2.

Been having fun in internship

It’s hard to believe that Alice and I have lived in Prince Albert for 3½ months. It has been a very good experience for me in internship. I’m getting to do all the pastoral duties like preaching (2x/month), leading services every alternate Sundays, hospital and carehome visitations, plus some home visits. These are regular things I do like clockwork and I'm having fun doing it. The more I serve here as Intern Pastor, the more I feel affirmed that pastoring is for me. So I praise and thank God.

My favorite thing in internship so far is preaching. I love preaching, the preparation and writing, and also the delivering of sermons. It has been really fun. In my weekly visitations at the seniors home, one lady I've been visiting each week was so kind. She had been collecting coupons for us, including coupons for baby diapers. Starting after the new year, I will also start a bible study for a seniors group at another seniors residence downtown. Hopefully, this group will be more stable because they have time. Please continue to pray for my work here at Messiah.

I’ve also started a youth group that meet every Friday night. It kind of died out some years ago because there was no one to lead it after a key youth leader left. Our youths in our churches need leaders. Without leaders, they are like young sheep that wander away, and sometimes wander completely away from the Christian faith.

The other ministry area that’s been on my heart is for young adults in their 20s and 30s. When I look out among the congregation, there are not many in this age category, maybe one or two. This ministry has been non-existent at Messiah Lutheran; therefore, I’m trying to start up a young adults group but we can’t seem to get people out so that we can meet regularly—so far it’s just been every 2 or 3 weeks. But I can only just try to be faithful and just meet with them and get to know them one at a time.

Dear friends, please continue to pray for my ministry work here at ministry.

Our Baby Girl

Some of you probably knew that Kevin and I are expecting a new baby girl in January. By God's grace, we are able to have a baby in our late 30's. It has been 2 years since we got married. We feel so blessed by God to establish a Christian home from 2 person to 3 person. In the future, I (Alice) will post more news about the progress of my pregnancy and the growth of the baby. I hope that we can connect by emails, blog or facebook.