No time to write a really good post, but for all you avid "Growing Up Fast" followers - Tobin James is here!!! He arrived at 10:05 AM on Friday, Sept 24 (just a day behind schedule...though my water did break on his due date). He weighed in at 7 lb 10 oz and measured 20.5 inches long. Labor went extremely quickly, for which I am so thankful. Had third degree tearing, but the doctor stitched me up and I'm healing fine. Will add more details later, but wanted to let you know that you can see some of our pictures on our Picasa site (link here). We've taken a gazillion more, so keep watching the album for updates.
Before signing off, THANK YOU for completely bathing us in prayer these last nine months and during the labor experience. God's face was truly shining upon us and we know we can't even fathom how richly He has blessed us with friends like you. We love you all.
Love in Christ ~ Valerie AND TOBIN!!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Bump photos
As I was going through my photos for the beautiful Cali shots (see post below), I found these two that have never been previously released to the world. Many are asking for more recent baby bump (err...baby "mountain") views, so here ya go!
37 weeks:
39 weeks:
And here's J.Paul and I off to support the ASU Sun Devils at their opening football game on Sept 4 (to which I was given 2 free tickets for being "on staff" at the University). Yay for teaching summer school! Note: Cali refuses to wear any ASU gear...perhaps she's a closet UA Wildcats fan?
Looking forward to posting Tobin pictures in the not-too-distant future...though we may wind up having 40 week and 41 week photos on here if he's dead set on taking his time! ^_^
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
37 weeks:
39 weeks:
And here's J.Paul and I off to support the ASU Sun Devils at their opening football game on Sept 4 (to which I was given 2 free tickets for being "on staff" at the University). Yay for teaching summer school! Note: Cali refuses to wear any ASU gear...perhaps she's a closet UA Wildcats fan?
Looking forward to posting Tobin pictures in the not-too-distant future...though we may wind up having 40 week and 41 week photos on here if he's dead set on taking his time! ^_^
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Photos of my first "baby"
With all the attention Tobin receives on this blog (and he's not even here yet!), I thought I'd give my first "baby", Cali, a little of the spotlight. Here are some cute pictures I've caught of her in the last few weeks. ^_^ She likes Tobin's stuff!
Love my sweet kitty!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Love my sweet kitty!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Eviction Notice
Two weeks ago, I gave Tobin his two weeks' notice and today, he gets an eviction warning. Poor kid's going to be born with a bad credit score! I had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday morning and was told there's been no change since my appointment last Monday (still about 1 cm dilated). That was pretty discouraging, but I have to continue to remind myself that God's timing is much better than my own. In the meantime, I've been able to keep swimming and have taken advantage of the time to just rest. I like taking baths and naps, both of which could be in scarce supply as soon as Tobin joins us.
I did talk with my doctor about the potential for induction. She said we'll talk more seriously about it at my next appointment (next Tuesday...let's hope I'm not keeping it), but that I'm not ready yet at this point. Given the option of going through a 2-day induction labor ordeal with the distinct possibility of requiring a c-section at the end of it versus enjoying my time at home and just waiting on nature...I think I'll take the latter, thank you very much. But the doctor doesn't want us going too long past due, so that'll be something to think about if we do get to next Tuesday uneventfully. J.Paul still says his guess is this Saturday, so we'll see. At least there are some good football games on Saturday, which will either help keep me occupied in labor or at home as I distract myself from the fact that my little boy is late. ^_^
Not much else going on at the Chambers' house, since I'd already cleared the calendar for the week. We'll keep everyone posted if there are any changes!!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
I did talk with my doctor about the potential for induction. She said we'll talk more seriously about it at my next appointment (next Tuesday...let's hope I'm not keeping it), but that I'm not ready yet at this point. Given the option of going through a 2-day induction labor ordeal with the distinct possibility of requiring a c-section at the end of it versus enjoying my time at home and just waiting on nature...I think I'll take the latter, thank you very much. But the doctor doesn't want us going too long past due, so that'll be something to think about if we do get to next Tuesday uneventfully. J.Paul still says his guess is this Saturday, so we'll see. At least there are some good football games on Saturday, which will either help keep me occupied in labor or at home as I distract myself from the fact that my little boy is late. ^_^
Not much else going on at the Chambers' house, since I'd already cleared the calendar for the week. We'll keep everyone posted if there are any changes!!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Thursday, September 16, 2010
The Waiting Game
Well, we've just crossed into week 39 today and are still waiting on Tobin to decide that he's ready to join us. Since he's now the size of a watermelon (therefore, I am at least the size of a watermelon), he's feeling pretty cramped. Last night he tried out some dance moves that may have worked for him in the past, but the restricted space caused major interruption. But he sure did keep trying, causing me some big discomfort. When he finally quieted down, we decided he was the cause of my pangs and didn't make a false trip to the hospital. Settle down, little guy, we're gonna get you out soon enough.
My family has put together a collection of guesses for Tobin's birth date, weight, and size. Sad to say, the first date passed uneventfully yesterday. The next two guesses are both for Saturday (mine being one of them), followed by a guess for just about every day until the 26th. The only date left off the poll? The 23rd, the kiddo's actually due date. I've read that about 5% of women actually do give birth on their due dates. My family seems to think Tobin and I just aren't part of that punctual few. The last birth date guess is October 2...which is just plain mean. ^_^ But with my luck (and aforementioned lack of punctuality) it could just happen. Eh, that gives me more days of floating around in the ASU pool and taking lovely baths with my new Bath & Body Works lavender vanilla bubble bath.
I'm a sucker for trivia, so I thought I'd share some of the random baby info I learned from a BabyCenter.com article:
And now, Tobin and I need some lunch. He's keeping me on a pretty regular eating cycle these days (as in, regularly eating all the time) and, what can I say? Toby needs!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
My family has put together a collection of guesses for Tobin's birth date, weight, and size. Sad to say, the first date passed uneventfully yesterday. The next two guesses are both for Saturday (mine being one of them), followed by a guess for just about every day until the 26th. The only date left off the poll? The 23rd, the kiddo's actually due date. I've read that about 5% of women actually do give birth on their due dates. My family seems to think Tobin and I just aren't part of that punctual few. The last birth date guess is October 2...which is just plain mean. ^_^ But with my luck (and aforementioned lack of punctuality) it could just happen. Eh, that gives me more days of floating around in the ASU pool and taking lovely baths with my new Bath & Body Works lavender vanilla bubble bath.
I'm a sucker for trivia, so I thought I'd share some of the random baby info I learned from a BabyCenter.com article:
- The most popular day for babies to make their entrance is now Wednesday. (This is the first year since at least 1990 that Tuesday wasn't the biggest birth day.) There were 15.4 percent more births on Wednesday than on the average day. Sunday is the slowest day, with 35.1 fewer births than average. The fact that far fewer babies were born on the weekend may be influenced partly by scheduled labor induction and c-sections, according to the CDC. But vaginal births also occur less often on the weekend.
- More newborns arrive during the late summer and early fall months of July, August, and September than any other time of the year. In 2006 (earliest data year), August hosted the most U.S. baby births.
- Over the last three decades, women have been waiting longer to start having children. In 1970, the average age for a first-time mother was about 21. In 2005, the average age of first-time moms when they gave birth was 25.2. In 2006, it dropped a bit for the first time since this stat was first measured in 1968 – to 25. (OK, now I just feel old)
- Number of stay-at-home moms in 2008: 5.3 million
- First-time moms' work status during and after pregnancy, 2001 to 2003:
Percentage of first-timers who worked during their pregnancy: 67 percent. By contrast, between 1961 and 1965, 44 percent of first-time moms worked while they were pregnant.
Percentage who worked during the month before they gave birth: 80 percent. By contrast, between 1961 and 1965, 35 percent of first-time moms worked during the last month of pregnancy.
Percentage who were working by the sixth month after they gave birth: 55 percent. By contrast, in the early 1960s, the percentage for first-timers was 14 percent. - In 2006, about one-third of pregnant women were outside the weight guidelines for healthy pregnancy, with 13 percent of moms gaining less than 16 pounds and 21 percent gaining over 40 pounds. (Unless Tobin holds on for another month, I'm in the guidelines - woohoo!)
- With about 1,049 male babies for every 1,000 female babies in 2006, boys are keeping the edge in a ratio that's stayed about the same over the past 60 years
And now, Tobin and I need some lunch. He's keeping me on a pretty regular eating cycle these days (as in, regularly eating all the time) and, what can I say? Toby needs!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Graceful Rainbows
I see a rainbow just about everyday. When I swim at ASU in the mornings (they have the best pool and I'll miss my morning swims horribly after Toby's born), they have the sprinklers on to cool down the water. Yes, the sprinklers are annoying because they spray water in my face while I'm trying to kickboard, BUT they also make beautiful rainbows with the morning sun. Since I have nothing but time to myself for deep thoughts while I float along, I often remember the childhood story of Noah and the first rainbow God gave him after the flood.
Genesis 9:8-16
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
Genesis 9:8-16
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you—the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
Last night at Excel, our church's student ministry, we asked the students what one thing was that they've learned about God in the past year. There were enough students answering so that I didn't share, but I couldn't help but think back to how I've felt these last 9 months - from finding out that we were going to have a baby, seeing that we're having a boy, feeling him move around inside me, to being so ready to meet him soon. All these crazy emotions have been rooted in further understanding that God is sovereign. Sovereign means being able to make and keep the kind of promise that He made to Noah. But there is one other not-so-small thing...God is also constantly showing me that I am the worst of sinners. Just thinking about how I've let my emotions run away with me lately or how terrified I am to have a child grow up and copy me brings so much evidence against me. And yet, my God is merciful and lavishly gives me His grace. The same mercy and grace He shows the world with His rainbow - He doesn't want to destroy us, He wants to love us immeasurably.
So tomorrow morning, when I see the rainbows in the sprinkler (assuming Toby doesn't try and come tonight ^_^), I'll be reminded of what a grace-full God I have and be joyful.
Love in Christ, and may you see many rainbows ~ Valerie
Monday, September 6, 2010
Hello, Desi!
My previous post is all about my baby shower, because it was special enough to deserve its own story (that, and there were a lot of pictures!). But this is the supplemental post about the entire day of my shower, which wound up being more exciting than we'd bargained for.
If you recall, I've mentioned a few times about how we were looking to sell our car and purchase a Honda CR-V. Well, Friday afternoon I stumbled across a new listing on cars.com for a 2008 CR-V at a local dealership with very low miles for an unbelievable price. Since I couldn't get it out of my mind, J.Paul humored me by going on Saturday morning to "just look" at the car...we thought that surely there was something wrong (a smokers vehicle or something) to make the price so low. Turns out, the dealership was just trying to get people in the door and the car was pretty near perfect. J.Paul had taken his mom with him (since it was only going to be a short trip ^_^) and they did the test drive and everything, then started talking about purchase and trade-in numbers. While I went to get my hair fixed for the shower (I'm growing it long for Locks of Love and had a hard time finding a nice style other than the standard ponytail), J.Paul kept calling and texting to keep me up to speed on the negotiations. About 10 minutes before I needed to leave my house for the shower, J.Paul got them to where we wanted them. But since I wasn't really in the right frame of mind to make a decision, the salesman let J.Paul take the 'new' car (because J.Paul's poor mom had been hanging around during the haggling and needed to get to the shower!) as long as we returned it that evening. He left it with me so I could test-drive it home. I loved it (and the extra trunk room to store the gifts was very useful)!
We looked over the car at the house and tried out both the infant and slightly-older-than-infant carseats to see how we liked the fit. Since the older carseat was a gift from my dad's sisters, we actually did take a couple pictures of the car to send out:
We went back to the dealership that evening and signed all the paperwork to welcome a new car into the family. I was a little sad to part with Shelly, my RX-8, but it was made so much easier because I really do like the new vehicle. Now I don't have to haul myself up out of the low-riding sports seats and we don't have to deal with the maintenance that Shelly was going to be requiring soon. Peace of mind can be worth quite a lot, especially since we're adding a Tobin to the family very soon as well!
If you can't tell from the pictures, the CR-V is a desert green color, and so we have named her "Desi". I'm so grateful and continuously amazed at how good God is to His children. Swapping out a vehicle seems like such a small thing when you think about all that goes on under the Lord's care, but He brought us just the right replacement at the perfect time...and in our budget. Thank you, God!
Well, we're getting close to the final countdown for Tobin's arrival. Two and a half weeks until his due date...but I'm hoping he'll come a little sooner. We'll post any news as soon as we find out ourselves!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
If you recall, I've mentioned a few times about how we were looking to sell our car and purchase a Honda CR-V. Well, Friday afternoon I stumbled across a new listing on cars.com for a 2008 CR-V at a local dealership with very low miles for an unbelievable price. Since I couldn't get it out of my mind, J.Paul humored me by going on Saturday morning to "just look" at the car...we thought that surely there was something wrong (a smokers vehicle or something) to make the price so low. Turns out, the dealership was just trying to get people in the door and the car was pretty near perfect. J.Paul had taken his mom with him (since it was only going to be a short trip ^_^) and they did the test drive and everything, then started talking about purchase and trade-in numbers. While I went to get my hair fixed for the shower (I'm growing it long for Locks of Love and had a hard time finding a nice style other than the standard ponytail), J.Paul kept calling and texting to keep me up to speed on the negotiations. About 10 minutes before I needed to leave my house for the shower, J.Paul got them to where we wanted them. But since I wasn't really in the right frame of mind to make a decision, the salesman let J.Paul take the 'new' car (because J.Paul's poor mom had been hanging around during the haggling and needed to get to the shower!) as long as we returned it that evening. He left it with me so I could test-drive it home. I loved it (and the extra trunk room to store the gifts was very useful)!
We looked over the car at the house and tried out both the infant and slightly-older-than-infant carseats to see how we liked the fit. Since the older carseat was a gift from my dad's sisters, we actually did take a couple pictures of the car to send out:
We went back to the dealership that evening and signed all the paperwork to welcome a new car into the family. I was a little sad to part with Shelly, my RX-8, but it was made so much easier because I really do like the new vehicle. Now I don't have to haul myself up out of the low-riding sports seats and we don't have to deal with the maintenance that Shelly was going to be requiring soon. Peace of mind can be worth quite a lot, especially since we're adding a Tobin to the family very soon as well!
If you can't tell from the pictures, the CR-V is a desert green color, and so we have named her "Desi". I'm so grateful and continuously amazed at how good God is to His children. Swapping out a vehicle seems like such a small thing when you think about all that goes on under the Lord's care, but He brought us just the right replacement at the perfect time...and in our budget. Thank you, God!
Well, we're getting close to the final countdown for Tobin's arrival. Two and a half weeks until his due date...but I'm hoping he'll come a little sooner. We'll post any news as soon as we find out ourselves!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
Showered with Love
Yes, I'm finally posting about my baby shower, which was last weekend. Two friends from our church small group - Peggy and Taylor - did a beautiful job with everything and I enjoyed every minute of it. It was a lunch affair with a DIY salad spread and cupcakes - yummy! Peggy had the shower in her home and she's a phenomenal decorator. The theme followed Tobin's room decorations: Things that go. Check out the banquet table!
After lunch, we played a couple of games. For the first, you had to examine a chocolate bar that had been smeared in the bottom of a diaper to figure out what kind it was. The winner, Libby (one of my friends from school), got them all right. I only got one out of the six...maybe it's a good thing I'm not good at dissecting diaper contents? For the second game, Peggy had frozen little plastic babies (like in Mardi Gras cakes) in cups of water and the first person to get the baby out won. It was some pretty stiff competition and the girls got very creative!
The girls were so generous in giving us clothes, toys, and other goodies for Tobin. Here are a few 'gift' pictures, including a picture of the baby quilt that J.Paul's mom made:
Here are a few more pictures of all my friends, my moms, and the wonderful hostesses...no comments on my large size, please!
There are several more pictures on my Picasa website for you to look at if you'd like.
Thank you, Taylor and Peggy, for the beautiful shower and the great memories!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
After lunch, we played a couple of games. For the first, you had to examine a chocolate bar that had been smeared in the bottom of a diaper to figure out what kind it was. The winner, Libby (one of my friends from school), got them all right. I only got one out of the six...maybe it's a good thing I'm not good at dissecting diaper contents? For the second game, Peggy had frozen little plastic babies (like in Mardi Gras cakes) in cups of water and the first person to get the baby out won. It was some pretty stiff competition and the girls got very creative!
The girls were so generous in giving us clothes, toys, and other goodies for Tobin. Here are a few 'gift' pictures, including a picture of the baby quilt that J.Paul's mom made:
Here are a few more pictures of all my friends, my moms, and the wonderful hostesses...no comments on my large size, please!
There are several more pictures on my Picasa website for you to look at if you'd like.
Thank you, Taylor and Peggy, for the beautiful shower and the great memories!
Love in Christ ~ Valerie
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