One Week Old

Wow...we can't believe Katherine is one week old today! It has truly been a week of overwhelming blessings. She has truly been a joy and it is often that I look down at her and can't believe she's ours. What an amazing thing that the Lord has given her to us to raise. It's been amazing to see the changes that have already occured in her in the last week. Her cone head is gone. Her nose no longer is squished, but instead she's beginning to form a bridge to her nose. I also noticed tonight that she may be getting Dustin's ears. We're also beginning to see the faint look of a smile and she's beginning to gain control over her head and lifting it on her own for brief seconds.

Here are some highlight photos of the last week.... On our way home from the hospital on Christmas morning.

When we arrived back to our house we were greated by Aunty Mandy and Grandpa Bino. They had driven through the night Christmas Eve and arrived Christmas morning to meet Katherine. 2008 Hobbs Family Christmas Portrait.... We couldn't have asked for a greater Christmas blessing than the birth of Katie.

First sponge bath since coming home. Gramdma Bino wanted to wash her hair, but Mommy did the rest. She had to get ready for the surprise visit of Uncle Jay and Aunt Janelle.

All dressed after my bath.

Uncle Jay and Aunt Janelle drove up the day after Christmas to meet their new niece. I knew that they were coming, but I had strict instuctions not to tell the new Hobbs grandparents about it.

Katherine is beginning to find herself. We caught her on camera with her hands folded together.

The big hightlight for the week was her trip to the pediatrician on Monday. She weighed in at 7 lbs. 3 oz. and she was given an excellent bill of health. She should be back to her birth weight by her 2 week appointment.

One week old picture. This picture was taken today. She's beginning to support the weight of her own head briefly. She's holding it up for us in this picture.

As promised...more photos

Almost 24 hours after her birth, Katherine continues to be a hit with the crowd. Thanks to everyone who came by today - Grandma & Grandpa Hobbs (ha!), Grandma Bino, Susan, Kevin & Susie, and Ray & Mary - it was great to see all of you!

Everyone is doing fine - baby and mama are taking a nap right now as I watch Notre Dame putting the hurt down on Hawaii. I'm attempting to parlay my good fortune into finally being mroe than an also-ran in the annual Rubino Family Bowl Pool. A tall task indeed, but hey, if I lose again, at least I can use my new tax deduction to help cover my losses!

Anyway, enough chatter - let's be honest: no one wants to hear me babble - you came here to see more photos of Katherine...well wait no longer!

Momma and baby getting some much-earned rest!

With Grandma Bino!

Say hi to Grandma & Grandpa Hobbs!

Looks like a keeper!

Just chillin' in my Christmas PJs!

With Pops!

Finally asleep!

Merry Christmas to Hobbs!

That happened WAY too fast...no sooner than we heard the 'time to push' order, did we here the 'here she comes' line. Barely an hour of pushing, Katherine Noel Hobbs is here!

The vitals:

7lbs, 8oz

20 inches

born at 9:24 p.m.

Here are some of the early photos - we took a bunch, so I need to go through them still...I'm a little punchy now, so these may not be the best photos...trust me, I'll be posting more in the next 24 hours...

By the way, congrats to all the uncles, aunts, grandparents, great-grandparents, etc. etc.

And double congrats to the Rubino clan - appears the Hobbs gene pool got whupped!

Thanks again for all the prayers and thoughts the last few days, weeks, and months...

Pushin' Time!!

Thanks to all of our prayer warriors out there - we got great news on the last check and Jamie started pushing about 15 minutes ago...things are looking good.

FYI, Hobbs grandparents are starting to wig out! :) Getting a little too excited I think! Hopefully it won't be too much longer, or we'll have to do something about them...

This may be my last post for awhile, so thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers - I'll post her first pics and stats ASAP...

Dustin

Good progress!

Well, things have certainly changed in the last few minutes...we're now making some serious progress - Jamie's fully dialated now, baby's finally getting with the program and is headed in the right direction. Doctors are going to keep at it until 7:30 and then check again, but things are definitely looking good as far as avoiding a c-section...

Hopefully more good news in a bit...

c-section or not - 6:30

Update - Doc is supposed to come back in around 6:30 - sounds like we'll probably make a decision then to go with c-section or keep slogging away as is...

Zzzzzzzzzzzz...

No word yet on whether we're going to have to do a c-section or not, although its definitely starting to look that way. Word is the baby is just too big! Props to the Rubino family for their seemingly high guesses - looks like you all might be right! Right now we're all trying to catnap some more while we wait for Katherine to decide if she wants out or not...Jamie's still hanging in there, dealing really good with the pain so far....

Baby's head is getting 'squashed'

So we've had a bit of an issue in the last few hours - baby not cooperating with us, in that she gets too active (heart rate) during contractions, so they paused us for awhile, and the doc just came in an verified that everything is fine, and that the variability in the baby's heart rate is just because her head is getting 'squashed,' as the doctor put it. Yikes. Let me tell you, not exactly the words you want to hear about your child! :)

Anyway, seems like we're back on track now, but still only dialated to 5 or so. Doc wants to give it a few more hours, but we're now talking about a possible c-section if the baby doesn't start cooperating. Jamie is doing great, hanging tough. Grandparents are catnapping as they can, as we seem to have a long ways to go.

More to come...

Playing the waiting game...

Two and a half hours after the epidural, and Jamie is feeling much better, and we're now just waiting for the baby to 'come on down!'

The baby is very active, and we're amazed at the correlation between the baby's heart rate and the contractions - pretty cool!

Jamie checked the blog to make sure I was keeping everyone up to date...she's got the Zune going listening to some tunes!

Here's the monitor - contractions on the bottom and baby's heart rate on the top...

Talk to y'all soon...

Up to six now!

At last check, Jamie is dialated to six...getting closer!!

Much better...

Jamie's now got the epidural going and is feeling MUCH better (and has a new appreciation for mothers who don't use one!). Three-fourths of the grandparents to be are now here:

For those keeping score at home, on the dialation front, we're up to 4...

Jamie's going to be taking a nap now, and I'm going to grab a bite...more to come...

Update...

Doc just broke Jamie's water, so things should start to move pretty good now...had no idea how strong Jamie was until she about broke all the bones in my hand squeezing it! She's being quite the trooper so far...

More to come I'm sure...

Katherine's B-Day (hopefully!)

Things should start to roll here pretty soon, and the welcome wagon has started to arrive...Jamie's mom just got here, and my parents are on stand-by...Jamie's hanging in there pretty good, dealing with the contractions really well so far...

Hospital staff has been excellent so far, very attentive and responsive, unlike our 'last' dinner last night at Lucille's BBQ (didn't even get silverware until after we got our ribs)...

Anyway, mom and baby are doing good, all vitals look perfect...I got a chance to run home and take a shower this morning, so I don't feel too wasted...will post again here in a bit.

The countdown continues...

So after one night in the hospital, we are both missing the comforts of home. Neither of us slept for too long, or very well. Oh well, good practice for the days to come I guess.

The doctor just came in and checked Jamie out and she's 3 cm dialated, and we should get going with the inducement in an hour or so.

In the good news department, we were surprised to find out that Jamie gets to eat some breakfast this morning, so she's pretty excited about that. I'm going to head home for a few minutes to take a shower and try and un-crick my neck. The couch in the room wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either!



Updates to continue...

Today's the day!

So at some point today, we'll be heading off to the hospital...Jamie is supposed to be induced at some point tomorrow. We'll be using this blog as a way to let everyone know what is happening. I'll post pictures as I have time, etc. etc. Wish us luck and keep us in your prayers!

Dustin and Jamie

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving at our house this year. John and Bev as well as Jay and Janelle joined us. We finished off the day with a visit to Grandpa Hobbs and family. Here are a couple of pictures.

Maternity Leave...HURRAY!

It's been awhile since I've updated our blog. So here is what I've been up to. My last day of work was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, with the official last day being Monday, December 1st. That was exactly 3 weeks before my due date. My days were getting harder and harder. Not because I don't enjoy my job, in fact, I'd really come to love my job. It seemed like it was a perfectly tailored job for me. I love the accounting work that I did, and learning new things about accounting from my boss, but I loved the event work that I was doing as well. I was very blessed to work with other believers and in a fairly laid back environment. But, for now I'm home resting and waiting for Katherine's arrival. The timing of my leave was perfect! I started to get increasingly more uncomfortable the Friday after Thanksgiving. I felt Katie drop and the pressure increased. I was so happy I'd decided not to push working another week.

The last 10 days have flown bye. We had our friends Scott, Carey, and little Emily stay with us for about 10 days. It was such a wonderful time of friends and fellowship. They are preparing for their move to Asia and needed a place to call home for a short while. They are the first couple we met when we started attending Grace over 3 years ago and have grown to enjoy their friendship. It was so much fun to watch Carey grow during her pregnancy with Emily and it has been great fun to get to know little Emily over the last year. We will truly miss them.

I've also been busy addressing envelopes for baby announcements and getting those ready to go.

Aimee and Jack came to visit for an afternoon with Carey and I.

Our washing machine broke down just as Scott and Carey came to stay. You don't realize how reliant you are on a piece of machinery until it doesn't work. We've been waiting on the part for over two weeks now. The part should arrive on Monday and hopefully Dustin can get it fixed quickly. I've been the laundry mat twice. It's quite a project at this point that I can't accomplish alone. Dustin and I went to the laundry mat last Tuesday. This past Monday I called our friend from church and asked to come over and do laundry at her house. I had quite the pile of linens. It was such a fun day! We stamped all day and watched two animated movies. She made a delicious quesadilla lunch. It was such a great way to pass the day and I was so thankful to Suzie for offering to let me do laundry at her house.

Amanda came for a visit on Tuesday so we were able to spend all day Wednesday and Thursday together. It was such a treat. Since she began her management job it makes it really tough for her to get away. I never laugh as hard as when we are together. She makes a trip to Wal-Mart and the laundry mat fun. We also slept and ate a lot. We also went to the mall. Our mall just opened up a whole brand new section with new stores and moved some stores as well. I've been wanting to check it out, but all of the walking is quite a chore right now, and I didn't want to go alone.

Today, I decided to cook. I made yummy chicken and dumplings for dinner and I also have BBQ pork in the crock pot to make sandwiches out of. I figure we'll eat one meal each from them, then freeze the rest for after the baby arrives. I sit around on the couch a lot and browse the Internet or read Baby sleep books. We have a busy weekend ahead. Dustin's work holiday party is tomorrow evening and on Sunday after church we have are going to the Singing Christmas Tree with the entire Barkley family. I'm not sure what next week holds for us. I'm hoping it holds the arrival of baby Katherine, but if not maybe I'll get around to making the curtains I keep talking about.

Week 34 Today!

I keep growing and growing! 3 more weeks until I'm full term and 6 weeks until my due date!

Baby Shower

This Saturday I was blessed beyond measure from the ladies at church. They threw baby Katherine and I a terrific shower to welcome her soon arrival. It was a wonderful turnout and an encouraging and uplifting time. We sang two of my favorite hymns, It is Well with My Soul and As the Deer. It was followed with a devotional by our pastor's wife. The devotional was packed full of scriptural references of how God desires for us to raise our children. It was a reminder that it is my job as a mother to 1. Love, 2. teach with joy, 3. show my children Christ and plead for their salvation.

The shower was such a wonderful time of celebration and rejoicing as well. When Dustin and I began to think about wanting children we had no idea how long the road would be for us because of my previous health conditions. All we could do was trust the Lord and pray that he would guide us. I have always found such joy in children and enjoyed others babies that I began to worry that if the road was long for us that I might find that joy harder and harder to maintain. I began to pray that no matter how long the road was that my joy in children would not diminish and I had to trust that no matter what the years ahead held that I could trust my Father in Heaven that he had a perfect plan for our lives, and that he would show us through the trials.

I had shared this prayer with several of the ladies at church and it was with great joy that I was able to share the news of my pregnancy with them in early May. I was greeted with many hugs and tears when the news was announced. It was for that reason that it seamed fitting to celebrate the soon arrival of baby Katie with my church family. I was so blessed and humbled by their love and support. I thank my God that these will be the ladies that Katie will observe and learn from as she grows and watches them serve the Lord and their families. My heart overflows with gratitude that HE chose such a time as this...

Apple Hill

A couple of weekends ago we felt like we needed some time away together so we headed to Apple Hill for the day. We headed to lunch at the Apple Hill Cafe then spent some time at several different apple farms. Every year we talk about picking our own pumpkins, but it never seems to work out. This year we did it! My belly is now larger than most of the pumpkins around, but we had a great time. Here are some pictures from the day.

We picked 3 pumpkins. One small, one medium, and one large. It's amazing to think that next year at this time Katherine will probably want down and will be wanting to crawl around in the dirt.

Stop the Press! Tim McCarver actually said something that made total sense...

First of all, before the Hobbs family descends upon me with cries of 'Bryce is quick,' hear me out...

How annoying has it been to see Manny Ramirez tear it up for the Dodgers after dogging it with the Red Sox the last couple of years - yeah, I know, the stats were always good, but you knew he was never playing all out all the time (unlike the 'gamers' on the Giants)...so some enterprising reporter, I'm sure figuring he's totally wasting his time, asks McCarver what he thinks...read and be amazed:

"It's extraordinary -- the dichotomy between what he was in Boston and what he is in Los Angeles," McCarver said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "I mean, talk about wearing out your welcome in a town, and it was a long welcome with the Red Sox. But some of the things he did were simply despicable, despicable -- like not playing, refusing to play. Forgetting what knee to limp on. And now it's washed, it's gone."

Are you kidding me??? As if that's not enough, he takes it further:

"You can't ignore all of the things that happened in Boston," McCarver told ESPN's Bob Ley. Later, asked if "despicable" was the right word, McCarver said: "I'm fine with it. I was fine with it when I said it."

I'm speechless...I am without speech...read it for yourselves: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/news/story?id=3632077

Here's the $356-dollar question we must now face - is Tim McCarver not the worst ever? Was he so much worse than everyone else that all the lucid quotes like this won't change anything, or are there any other mere mortals who are within range of his insanity that he can now hear footsteps?

I leave you all to ponder that one...my head already hurts...

Only have two words for you:

BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA! BEAT LA!

In honor of the Phillies coming triumph, I am changing my name, a la Chad 'Ocho Cinco' Johnson, to Dusty 'J Roll' Hobbs...My new jerseys will be available in stores soon...

Update: Congrats Janelle

You live to see another day...

Jamie: 1, Ugly Nasty Bush: 0

Today we did some work out in the front yard - Jamie worked on the roses a little and I did some more of what I'm now an expert at - DEMOLITION!!

Jamie has 'hated' this bush (juniper??) since 'before we made an offer on the house.' So I busted out my weenie little electric Crap-N-Decker hedge trimmer and chopped it up and then dug out the rest...oddly I didn't find as many creepy crawlers as I thought - only a couple of spiders and one black widow...anyway, at the end of the day - bush is no more, and now I've got a pile of dirt, rocks and bush chunks to deal with...

NOW YOU SEE IT...



NOW YOU DON'T...



Apparently not everyone was happy to see the bush go...



By the way, how 'bout them Angels?!?! Don't worry Janelle, the only thing worse than getting swept in the first round (besides losing 90 in the regular season and being out of the NL West by May - yeah, yeah I know) is winning the opening round in a stunning upset, only to have your heart broken in the NLCS...go Phils!

By the way #2 - here's a question for everyone, and think hard before you answer - what team is worse, Chip Carey and Buck Martinez or Joe Buck and Tim McMoron? Some arguments pro and con:

Buck Martinez has absolutely no good stories from when he played or managed...what the heck? You're supposed to be the color guy! At least McCarver is good for at least 3 or 4 references to a Bob Gibson story...Hey Buck - the only point of your existence is to provide some balance to Chip's stupid comments like this gem from tonight: 'They've not only scored both their runs with two outs, but both came with two strikes, so its a double-whammy!' This brings me to the reason we even have to have this conversation - Martinez follows up that idiot line with a 'Yeah, you definitely don't want to give up hits with two outs, and especially with two strikes.'

Crickets...

Ok, I know I'm pushing it here - no Bryce-action - Joe and Tim are totally worse...I just hate TBS' coverage...sad that I can't wait for FOX to take over...at least then I won't have 'EJ' telling me to text him my questions in between innings...

Baby Katherine's Room

I was determined to finish painting the stripes this weekend. Here is what the nursery looks like as of to night. It still needs the chair rail around the room and the mobile hung. The chair rail will have to wait until Dad Hobbs returns from his hideout in the woods.

See Amanda, I did a fine job. I didn't mess it up at all.

The almost finished product!!

Thank you to Tanya for the crib and thanks to Papa and Grams for the dresser. I was able to find the dresser and glider off of Craig's List. I've been checking the Sacramento and Bay Area listings several times a day for months in hopes of finding a glider chair and dresser that I liked. I ended up finding the perfect green glider chair from a family just a couple of blocks from work and the dresser I found from a family about 15 minutes away. Not to mention I found them both in the same week! I couldn't believe it!