All The Babies Have Arrived!

All the staff wives on the Saddleback Irvine team has had their babies (see previous post for pre-baby photo).  

On December 17, Erin and Joy came over to bring us dinner.  Karis met Autumn for the first time. 

Skylar was born on December 27.  We visited the Galarza's on the 28th at the hospital where Karis met Skylar.  She was intrigued!

We're looking forward to some great friendships and sisterhood developing among them!

3 Weeks Old

Grandma's first visit with Karis

Grandma made a very long drive to CA from AZ (and back) to see her newest grandchild. It had been about 19 years since her last grandchild was born. Needless to say, she was EXCITED!!

Karis is just over two weeks old in the photos. She was sleeping most of her days, but Grandma Karen was glad to hold her... and hold her she did!

Here are some photos of the visit. Notice that Grandma didn't care for any photos with Karis' parents, in fact, I'm not sure she was aware of our presence once she got the baby in her arms.

Greetings from Karis

Click to Play

Christmas Greetings!

Some of you will get this greeting card, but for many, I lost your address when my Palm Pilot expired (yes, I do back it up, but I had wiped the pc because we donated it). =(

Thank YOU!

Derek and Lena have some unbelievably generous friends (and some are creative, too) . We are so grateful for all of you.

Daddy and Karis

Little hand... big hand















Naptime...















This is what Karis wears when Daddy gets to pick the outfit

Things are good....

Karis is starting to eat more regularly. Mom is happy about getting more regular naps and bigger blocks of sleep at night.

She has only been crying when she is hungry or has gas. And she had gas quite a bit. Lena has cut back on the gallon of milk a day diet, and surprisingly, much less gas for Karis. I jest, she did cut out as much milk product and it seems to be working.

Dad is fighting a sinus infection at the moment. No fun! I want to love on Karis but not with my sneezes, snots, and coughs.

I will be working tomorrow for our first set of Christmas services. I don't know what it'll be like getting up for work... it feels like it has been so long. I'm sure it'll be tough being away from our baby girl. I so want to just stay at home with Karis for another week... but I'm also torn because Christmas is such an important time at church. I also want to be there to help people get connected.

It so does NOT feel like Christmas is this coming Thursday. Yikes!

Karis' special talents

As a kid (or as an adult), have you ever laughed so hard that milk came out your nose (or soda)?

We discovered Karis' first "talent" Sat night after leaving her cousin's party when we stopped at a co-worker's house to drop off a key (Leo is great for covering for me while I'm out). We carried her in her car seat covered with a blanket as we're moving into winter in California (50s-60s). We got her inside their place... set her seat up on the counter for the best viewing... started the drum roll and revealed Karis. Ta dah! Oh wait! Let me conceal her again as she had a stream of breast milk from her nose down her cheek. We got a quick laugh. Then later as we were placing her in the car seat to leave, I bent her legs to get her in and she shot more milk out both nostrils! For a moment, I actually thought her legs were functioning as a milk pump. Scary site, but it doesn't seem to bother her much. No crying.

Talent #2 is something that daddy first experienced. It was Sunday early morning. After I set her down in the crib, she looked as if she was going to stretch and yawn. There were facial expressions and arm movements... but no yawn. I quickly jumped in on the opportunity to shadow box with her. Then it turned into more of martial arts thing (her more than me) and she was blocking my strikes with some nice defensive arm movements that even Uncle Marzano would applaud. She kept up the facial gestures without crying or stopping to yawn. I was digging it. We had another brief stint of play fighting later. =)

Party Girl

Yesterday, Karis went to her first party.  Her cousin turned 12 years old and was having a party at the house. Karis didn't take part in the laser tag, pizza and ice cream cake, but she was able to meet all five of her cousins.  The oldest ones showed the least amount interest -- partly because of the birthday festivities, but partly because it was just another baby (in a family of five, a new baby is no longer a novelty!).  

Jacob was the most excited to meet Karis.  His excitement was so cute.

Jessi was a little hesitant...  Uncle Derek's attention was now divided and there was less room on his lap (she is very attached to Uncle Derek).   She wasn't sure what to make of Karis at first.

She checked her out and learned the word "gentle."

Eventually she warmed up to her and even posed for the camera. 
Jessi has four older brothers, so we're looking forward to when both she and Karis get older and become good  friends.

What Dirty Diaper-changing Daddy is learning (not ALL about diapers)

All newborns have a God-given reflex for protection called the Moro Reflex. When they are startled (noise, tilt angle, etc.), their arms quickly reach out to grab something. It scared me at first, but now I think it's further proof of how God loves us and wants to protect us. She has not yet fallen, but instinctively Karis knows what to do to protect herself. It's cool. She has startled me quite often while I've been simply holding her. More than once the reflex has kicked in sending a baby fist in the direction of my face. =) Two things I've learned: 1. Keep her swaddled. 2. Admire her from a distance of greater than 4 inches.

If we don't wrap her tightly while she is resting, I've found that she'll sleep with her arms up and not touching her body. More specifically, in a karate position ready to strike. Hilarious... and even more so when her hands are covered with cute little mittens. What could she possible hurt?

What am I surprised with so far?

I'm surprised she doesn't spit up more. This morning was the first I've witnessed it. Maybe she'll grow into it. What I have noticed is that she seems to regurgitate instead of letting it flow out of her mouth, she struggles to keep up with swallowing it. Parents, have you also witnessed this? Doctors, is this normal?

I'm surprised by myself. I'm really a go-getter when it comes to changing diapers. I had never changed a diaper prior to Karis. I had tried with my nephew and niece (not you Cooper and Kelsey... thankfully your parents didn't leave me alone long enough with you when I visited) on several occasions. My persuasive argument with the kiddos to behave extremely well, to better prepare me for my own some day, did not work. All the fuss frightened me away. With Karis, however, I'm pushing Lena aside and asking to change the diaper. Guilt over her delivery pain? I dunno. Probably more of the guardian in me wanting to ensure Karis is well cared for.

God is using this baby experience to mellow me out. I can tell that already. Within 3 hours of being home from the hospital, Karis had a large amount poopy and it somehow decided to come up and out the front of her diaper. That stinks (pun intended) on three levels. One, what a mess. Two, poopy mixing with female anatomy. Three, poopy in belly button. I could have freaked out easily. I think I stayed rather calm. We handled it well as a team. I could have been better. But I surprised myself with my take charge attitude. I thought I'd be more indecisive not knowing what to do. I knew we are not encouraged to use alcohol wipes on umbilical cord. I knew we were supposed to keep it clean. (What could be worse than a bunch of poopy on it?!?) And I knew we weren't supposed to get it wet. Alcohol wipes are okay to clean... but natural drying out is best. Dry Q-tips worked well, too. I did call the doctor to ask for direction by the way.

Other than that, it's been pretty mellow so far. Karis is sleeping next to me now. She's a farter... lots of gas just like her paternal side of the family. =)

I'll be posting some videos soon. Took a bunch... just need to review and maybe edit them first.

Keep coming back for more.

A little more about Karis and her journey to us...

Karis is Greek for grace. And that's exactly what we received from God as she was delivered with her umbilical cord around her neck. Heijah was Lena's mother's name. Karis is very healthy... Mom is great, too. 'Twas only 3-1/2 hours of labor, and only 4 pushes until she joined us. =)

The day started at a regular doctor appt. on Wed when Karis' heart rate seemed slow. Doc hooked Lena up to heart monitor to be safe. Karis' heart was decelerating during/after contractions (down in the 60-80 range when 140 is healthy) so we were ordered to hospital immediately and told to prepare for a C-section as Dr anticipated the cord was being compromised. Karis' demeanor changed at hospital (for the good) so we ended up waiting around to have a normal delivery. Doctor was bewildered until the actual delivery where she saw cord around her neck. By God's grace she is fine. =)

Lena shot from 5 cm to 10 cm in less than two hours. We (including me) could see Karis' head waiting to come out. We had to call the doctor and ask her to rush as we were waiting on her. She did get an epidural but they didn't check her dialation before hand. So she got it 20 minutes before the baby dropped into position. Eh, at least it helped for the delivery.

Visitors were great. Multiple interruptions from nurses and other staff (photo greeting card service, cleaning crew) made it tough for Mom and baby to get good sleep beyond Karis' own efforts.

I'm a pro at changing diapers... it surprises even me. I was a champ during delivery - meaning I didn't pass out. =)

That's all for now.

And Then There Were Three

Introducing Karis Heijah Robinson
Born 12.10.08 at 10:32 pm
8 lbs. 2 oz.
18 1/2" long

Turkey Bowl 2008

Derek has a story to tell about Turkey Bowl. Unfortunately you'll have to wait about 6 weeks when he can type with all his fingers. Right now he can only type with about 7 or 8 of them...