Blanket handmade by Great Auntie Brooks!

She even made a little one for now, AND a big one to grow on. :-)

3 Weeks Old!

Our Kathleen is now 3 weeks old! We are in a daze....

Quilt Made in Montana

Gramma's friend Lynn made this original design quilt for Kathleen. She is truly stylin' now! Such talent!

First Time in New Swing!

Kathleen isn't too sure if she likes her new swing yet. She'll look around for about 20 minutes and then lets us know she's had enough. We're hoping she'll settle into it, although I get paranoid that she'll fly across the room or something if I glance away....

2 weeks old!

We still can't believe our baby is two weeks old already! Here she is....

Family Portrait

Here is our best shot for the "Wall of Shame---oops...I mean FAME!" The kids were great! Also, note Kathleen's passport mugshot. She will be going to Prague this December along with her Mom, Dad, and Gramma, provided we can get her passport on time. YIKES! Which picture should we use?

Thank you again for all your well-wishes and encouragement! We appreciate you all so much. :-)

More pix of Kathleen and family

Grandma Maggy's Bunch

We decided to comemorate the occasion with a family portrait. Kodak; eat your heart out!

At Home At Last... and with Grandma

We finally got home and one of the great advantages of having grandma visiting is to have someone to take your pictures

Konecne jsme doma a jedna z vyhod mit na navsteve babicku, je to ze muze delat fotky nas trech.

Pictures for you - Obrazky pro Vas

I am posting some pictures so you can see what beauty came of my beautiful wife. The baby was born natural, and is very sweet and quiet. She just likes to look around and see all the new things

Davam na internet nejake obrazky, aby jste se mohli podivat jaka krasna holka vylezla z me krasne manzelky. Je to mala ticha holka, ktera se akorat porad rozhlizi kolem sebe a pozoruje.

Its a Girl!!!

Baby Kathleen was born at about 6:30p 6 lbs 3oz and 19 inches long!

Karel called to say she is at 8cm at 330p. Baby Kathleen is coming soon!

Epidural is Awesome!

Hi all, Christine here again.
Mary had an epidural at about 1230p. She feels great now! Kathleen's heartbeat is nice and strong and Mary & Karel are going to try to doze a bit. She is still just 5cm, but things are "on autopilot" according to the nurse.

Mary is admitted to hospital!

At 10:00am this morning, she was admitted to Kaiser at 4 cm dialated. Hopefully, Aug 9th will be Kathleen's Birthday! Grandma is driving down from Bigfork and will be here Friday afternoon. Too exciting!

Labor Update from Big Sis

Update,
Mary's contractions are now 3-5 minutes apart and quite painful. She and Karel went to the hospital at 230am, and were told that she was only 1cm dialated. They gave her a mild sedative and sent her home. It only worked for about 1/2 hour. Coach Karel helped her focus with the breathing until 7:30am when they left for the hospital. They will either admit her or give her a narcotic painkiller and send her home.
Keep checking! We will try to keep you all updated!
Christine

False or real?

Something is happening. Yikes! Mary was awoken at 1:30 am today with some minor contractions. Apparently they felt stronger than the previous Braxton-Hicks and were much lower in the abdomen and coming every 15 minutes or so. This continued until around 7:00am when they lessened, and became more erratic. Now, at 12:30, they are sporadic, and therefore not the real deal. Of course this could all change in a matter of hours...or days, so it's the waiting game. Coach Karel is ready for the big goal!
Well, it's 9:00pm and all is status quo...the intensity of the contractions is increasing, and overall the time in between is getting shorter, however not consistent enough to warrant the trip to Kaiser. Perhaps sometime tonight? Only time will tell....

So far so good...

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. :-) Went for a visit to our Nurse MidWife at Kaiser on Friday. Everything is good! Normal blood pressure, good sugar/protein, very minor ankle swelling.... The baby has officially dropped, and is sitting at Station -2, (50% effacement, no dilation,) for all you doula-types.

The nursery is all ready for a baby! Mary is getting cabin-fever, (no cruise or camping, or trip to Montana this summer, etc)...and keeps telling Karel she wants to go to Tahoe, or SF, or somewhere! He kindly gives her a reality check. Doesn't sound like your typical nesting behavior, ya think? :-) Next appt is 8/10...or maybe not!

Lemon Cake

Mary's mom sent her a lemon cake.....made out of flowers! Isn't it amazing? And fat-free....

40 trips around the Sun!

Today is Mary's 40th Birthday. Karel took her and her enormous baby to The Slocum House, a romantic historic restaurant in Fair Oaks. The food was amazing, and we were both very full and satiated. Mary was overwhelmed with all the email well-wishes and gifts. Perhaps you could help us solve the mystery of the tea & cookie set in a pink straw basket that was delivered by UPS w/o any identification? Did you send it? We'll never know if someone doesn't come clean! Thanks again everyone for making it such a special day....4 decades, 2 scores, I've lost count!