Updated - 1:45 p.m./Oct. 31, 2006

News>Hina's Blog has moved
Oct. 31, 2006

You can now get your latest Hina fix on her new blog: http://www.xanga.com/apostelhouse

News>UP Renovation Project Forges Ahead
Jan. 22, 2006

One of our main projects since we've been back is the preparation of our guest bedroom for the birthing tub (shown here). You can read more about this tub in the fourth paragraph of this entry.

It’s been a long while, unfortunately, since we’ve been able to send an update. The holidays, travel, and construction held us up, but now we’ve been there and back again and have much to report.

While home down South, we were blessed by friends and relatives with two baby showers to help us prepare for our daughter’s arrival. And we were definitely prepared--clothing, blankets, and bedding being three of the major areas. Just yesterday, friends in Shawn’s program here in MIchigan also threw us a little get-together, and we’re sure the baby will be all the more spoiled because of it.

Our most involved project since we’ve been back has been preparing for delivery by finishing the guest bedroom, where the birth will actually take place. Within 24 hours of our return, we got the new guest bathroom to a more functional level. Then Kristi’s best friend, Kara, came from the chill of Vermont to the freeze of the UP to help. We painted the bedroom non-stop, and continued even after she left. In the midst of rollers, a bad rock station, and late nights, the carpet guys thought they’d do us a favor and decided to ask if they could come two weeks early. Without hesitation, we paused long enough to say yes, only to immediately resume our work. One ceiling, three walls of drywall, and 30 feet of trim later, we were ready--just barely. See the (almost) finished product here (a rather large QuickTime movie -- so be patient).

All that remained to make the guest bedroom/birthing room complete was the birth tub. After a great deal of research, we bought one from Waterbirth International, at www.waterbirth.org. We decided to buy because, for one, we plan to have more children. But we also wanted to make this birthing alternative more available to women in our area, where options are basically zilch. So even though our baby hasn’t yet arrived, people are already lining up to rent the tub from us. And the local newspaper may do a story on it when the time comes. If so, we’ll send it on to all of you.

We’re in the final countdown now, to our little girl’s arrival. Nesting is in high gear, and comments like, “You’re almost as round as you are tall” are common. We hope to have as much time as possible to keep preparing for this next stage in our life, but we welcome any emails or phone calls from you in the meantime. We have friends and family in Toccoa, Florida, and beyond who will hear the phone ring when the big day gets started, and they’ll start a chain of contact from there. We’ll covet your thoughts for us during that crucial time, and we’ll be overjoyed to bring you a glowing report when, finally, Moose makes her big debut.

Email us your responses at apostels@gmail.com.

Check out our registries: www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com.

News>Exclusive Story: The latest Moose Movements
Dec. 13, 2005

Last week, for the first time, as Kristi was observing movements in her belly, she noticed that Moose was acting differently. Just before bed, Kristi was sitting downstairs in the living room, and suddenly, the familiar punches became strangely steady and, well, smaller than usual. As the steadiness continued, what might be the culprit slowly dawned on her. She tapped on the coffee table, in time to Moose’s movements, to show Shawn their consistency. And he agreed—baby’s first hiccups!

With less than 24 hours to go before we head South for Christmas, life is certainly one crazed rush of school, doctor appointments, and get-togethers. Over Thanksgiving, however, Shawn found time to work on the nursery a bit more. The insulation is now almost completely up, and the room has been wired to code. It has more electrical outlets than practically the whole house combined, and yet it’s the smallest room in the place. Moose will be able to listen to music, sleep with a fan, make a cappuccino, and relish in a fancy night light—all at the same time. Not many newborns can boast that.

We’ll be down in Georgia until almost New Year’s, so we hope to see many of you then. Please email us at apostels@gmail.com if you want to get together. Calling won’t be an option during that time, but the phone will be back in service as soon as we get back to Michigan. We hope you all have a blessing-filled holiday season, and we can’t wait to tell you about all the progress we make on the house when we return. We’ll probably be in hyper-drive at that point, since Moose’s arrival will be just over a month away.

Email us your responses at apostels@gmail.com.

Check out our registries: www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com.

News>Exclusive Story: How did Moose get her name?
Nov 2005

Later in the summer, Kristi bought some cool moose socks, which she enjoyed wearing until a recent snowstorm demanded warmer attire. And then, after we’d returned to Michigan, the date was set to find out the baby’s sex—the third week of September.

Once we knew she was a she, we celebrated by going to buy her an outfit. We soon found a sage green winter sleeper we loved, but not before Shawn spied a striped outfit with—yep—a moose on it. When we started telling everyone we were having a girl, the next obvious question was—“What are you gonna name her?”

Honestly, we’d love to oblige, but we feel that keeping this info to ourselves is something we can hold onto together during this time. It’s an invaluable contribution to the intimacy we’re learning about as we’re delving more and more into what parenthood will mean and be.

In the meantime, though, we didn’t want everyone to feel stuck saying something like “How’s that girl baby doing today?” If you like that approach, it’s cool with us, but we also couldn’t deny all the moose-like coincidences that had come into our lives since the pregnancy began.

Email us your responses at apostels@gmail.com.

Check out our registries: www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com.

News>Future Parents feeling older ... could it be the stress?
Oct 2005

We noticed at a local halloween party that many people mentioned that we were looking older. Perhaps it's the stress. What do you think? Look below to see some feature photos of the occasion.

Email us your responses at apostels@gmail.com.

Check out our registries: www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com.

News>New Apostel Under Construction
Sept 2005

Fall semester is really beginning to feel like Fall now up here in PhD land, also known as the UP of Michigan. Campus is crowded with students who try to prove themselves by wearing shorts and t-shirts, despite the fact that gold and orange leaves are falling through 40-50 degree air and past their hatless heads before reaching the sidewalk. Needless to say, Shawn and I favor the leaves over the students, who will probably still risk shorts when the white stuff comes instead of the leaves.

But it also feels like Fall for other reasons, one being that we are at the beginning of the end of our first pregnancy. Even as Fall signifies the end of another year, this Fall seems to us to point to the fact that our little girl will be here sooner than we think. Naturally, we should be sharing all of these feelings, thoughts, and more with our friends and family, but perhaps we needed a change in season to show us that. Whatever the case, here it is, in all its own Fall glory. We hope you enjoy, and we also hope to be more active with updating it before temps change too drastically.

Let us know what you think at apostels@gmail.com.

We have a gift registry available at www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com.

Here are some "pictures" of our little one. Although her name is not being released until she is born, we do want you to know that her nickname is Moose.

Moose at 15 weeks. view larger image	Moose at 15 weeks. view larger image
Moose at 19 weeks. view larger image	Moose at 19 weeks. view larger image

Email us your responses at apostels@gmail.com.

Check out our registries: www.target.com and www.babiesrus.com.

News>Stats on Kristi's belly