n e x t h a r t

Josiah is 7 months old, and some other updates

2008-12-12T15:25:00.000-08:00

Today, Josiah is officially 7 months old! He had his 6 month check up a couple of weeks ago (and more vaccination shots poor guy) and he is still growing. He weighed in at 20.5 pounds, is 28.5 inches tall, and has a head circumference of 18cm. That means that he is in the 90% for weight, and the 95% for height and head circumference! Momma is getting strong!

He is exploring with more foods now. He's had some pumpkin, rice cereal is going a bit better, but so far his favorite is momma's homemade carrots. They aren't only tasty, but also lots of fun to play with.

Josiah is getting very mobile. He can get around by rolling, spinning, and even doing a low crawl to get around. (On his stomach with his arms and hands) He'd rather be sitting up or standing than lying down most of the time too. I think one of my most favorite new things he's doing now is laughing when other people are laughing. He thinks it's funny and joins in, even when someone laughs on tv! He also really enjoys watching and hanging out with Kisbey.

But the absolute most to the moment news on Josiah is that he has at least 1 tooth coming in! He won't let me see it really yet so I'm mostly going by feel, but it might even be 2 teeth. It's the front bottom teeth, yay! If we can catch a picture, we'll post that soon, but as of yet his tongue really likes to hide them.

exploring california

2008-11-30T23:03:00.000-08:00

Katie + I finally got out of Chula Vista and drove up the coast to Encinitas to visit some family. Along the way we stopped at La Jolla and got some great shots. La Jolla is such a beautiful place! Even though its so much more expensive to live here, we have found that there is so much to explore and do here for free. Enjoy the pictures. There are some great ones of Josiah!

And... we're back!

2008-11-17T21:46:00.000-08:00

It's the same old story, things have gotten busy and we've lost track of time. The blog has fallen behind and we haven't been good about getting things up. We're sorry! We promise we will do better at updating the blog more regularly as we get used to the new additions to our schedule. But for now... we have uploaded more pics to flickr so make sure you click on that link to check things out. Such as... date night at the beach, Josiah's first encounter with rice cereal (still working on that one), and a few others you may not have seen yet. A few points of update on Josiah to hold off the withdrawl until we fill in more details:
1. Josiah still isn't all that interested in rice cereal, so we're going to be trying new methods.
2. No teeth yet, but we're thinking soon!
3. He really enjoys sitting up on his own, but doesn't have enough balance control to keep himself up once he reaches for something, so we practice sitting together. It's cute!
4. He still enjoys rolling around and is doing a great job at reaching for things.
5. When I reach out my hands to him, he reaches for my hands so that I can pull him into a sitting position. Very smart!
6. He has said his official first word! Mama! And we're pretty sure he knows what he's saying too because he looks for me where I'm "supposed" to be when he says it... sometimes.
7. He is officially 6 months old now and has his next appointment on December 1st, more shots though. :(

A quick update on Kisbey, she's made a new friend! Jake, who lives down the sidewalk from us, is an Australian Shepard puppy with lots of energy to match Kisbey's. Every time we take her outside to take out trash, get the mail, or for her bathroom break, she tries to take off to Jake's house!

And finally a quick update on the 2 of us.... Brad is still telecommuting to the U of I, but he's also pursuing photography and has an incredible eye for it! He and Lyndsey are working together to gain some clients, and in the meanwhile they are enjoying practicing on our friends and families. I'm working hard with Chase and Andrea in Kids' City, overseeing the birth thru pre-k kiddos coming to Momentum. Brad's taking on some new leadership roles in the church and the entire experience has been really growing for both of us.

So hope that's satisfying for now. We'll do better with getting the updates up more frequently!

Josiah meets his new Chula Vista Pediatrician

2008-10-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

One HUGE thing accomplished finally, we have found an excellent pediatrician at Sharp Hospital. His name is Dr. Johnson and he happened to have attended Medical School at the University of Illinois which was why we decided to schedule a consultation appointment with him. He is such a gentle and fun doctor! We had lots to chat about and he was quite entertained by Josiah. And on top of it all, he said that he would like to come check out the church probably on our quickly approaching launch date for church. And I am quite relieved to have finally gotten this checked off our still too long to-do list.

And our not-so-little little boy weighed in at 18 pounds 11 ounces, 27 inches long and 17 cm head circumference. Dr. Johnson says he's a perfect cube because he's in the 90th percentile in all three measurements! No wonder my back is sore... He also got 4 immunization shots and got a slight fever as a result which he's struggling through today. On the plus side, he's quite cuddley as a result.

This picture is a few days old, but still a good demonstration of how much he's grown, and how much he enjoys his bumbo seat!

Goodbye White Apartment

2008-09-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

The lack of design + color finally got to me so I set out for Home Depot. The design included an experimental paint treatment on the dining room wall + a custom piece of simple art above the couch. Overall we were pretty happy with how it turned out.
check out the pics here

momentum :: the early days

2008-09-26T22:54:00.001-07:00

Chris posted a bunch of random momentum photos that we will eventually come across in 30 years + look back with fondness on "the good old days"...and we will probably also tease each other about clothes, hair style, etc.
click here for random photos

Josiah Rolls Over for the 1st Time!

2008-09-20T14:06:00.000-07:00

At 4 months + 8 days Josiah rolled over for the first time! We put the camera on him just to see if he would do it again and after about 5 minutes of recording he finally did! So...technically what you are seeing is Josiah rolling over for the 2nd time. Its still good though.

AMC _Day 1

2008-09-15T23:37:00.001-07:00

momentum christian church is officially in the theater + what an awesome first day it was! portable church is hard work...and we didn't even have to worry about setting up a stage or screen! there were about a dozen cases on wheels that we rolled off a trailer containing everything from the sound board to the drum kit to the kids toys. it took every bit of 2 hours to unload + set it all up, which included us tripping the circuit breaker more times than you can count on one hand. the theme of these four weeks before we launch is "can you see it?"...envisioning something that is not yet there. our launch team took up only one full row of seats. as we turned around + look out over all the empty seats, we realized that each of those seats is a story of someone coming into a relationship with Jesus + waking up to life. it was a powerful, humbling experience that we are so excited to be a part of. please continue to pray for the Gospel to take hold in the city of Chula Vista, California as we continue to simply live out the mission of the church: loving God + loving people.

check out pics from the day

Return to Champaign

2008-09-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

Katie, Josiah, and I had an awesome first trip back to Champaign! The main reason for being back was Ben + Amy's wedding. In addition, we got to see lots of family + friends, Josiah met his cousins Megan + Ava, and I got to dust off the camera for the wedding + a family photo shoot. One of our favorite moments of the week was when Josiah wouldn't stop laughing at Wrigley, Mom + Jeff's mini Australian Shepherd. That was the most he has ever laughed by far!! The wedding was really nice + I was able to get a few good shots. I posted links to the different albums below.

Josiah + Ava
Family Photo Shoot
Ben + Amy's Rehersal
Ben + Amy's Wedding
Ben + Amy's Reception

Water, Water Everywhere, And Not A Drop We'll Drink

2008-08-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

I think we always knew that Champaign-Urbana has such fantastic water, straight from the tap, and now I think we took it for granted. For some reason, I didn't consider that we'd have to adjust to the tap water in the move. We planned on adjusting to the time change, the weather change, the social climate change, but did not plan on adjusting to the tap water change!

First, the tap water never really gets that cold here, not sure why. Second, it's pretty sulfurey, particularly by comparison to what we're more accustomed to. So we've been pretty disappointed and so far have been biting the bullet at buying bottled water of some sort or another. We're probably going to have to get a filter to attach to the faucet, or a filter pitcher to keep in the fridge. I haven't even filled our ice cube trays cause it just sounds yucky to put that water in frozen form into our drinks! And Brad says that his coffee definitely tastes different here.

We really didn't realize how spoiled we were! We sure are looking forward to enjoying some of that good old C-U water when we come back for Ben and Amy's wedding!

A Cozy Lunch Time Nap

2008-08-14T17:37:00.000-07:00

Brad was home for lunch the other day and Josiah was sleeping so nicely. So I thought I'd combine the 2! Brad stretched out on the couch and I handed Josiah to him and they both slept and the sight was so darn beautiful, I had to take some pictures. Brad woke up a bit later in the picture taking time, but I got this picture first. Like father, like son, huh? So sweet!

Josiah's First Blog Entry

2008-08-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

Well obviously he can't type yet...he is just a baby after all... but he really wanted to share his thoughts on a video post. Very insightful.

Beach Dog

2008-08-11T23:12:00.000-07:00

What a great day! Kisbey got to spend most of the day with her new best friend, Jasmine (Chris + Lyndsey's Weimaraner). The Hornbrooks brought lunch over to our place before all seven of us (eight if you count baby Hornbrook) piled into the Jeep to head off to the Coronado Dog Beach. Kisbey was very cautious about the waves at first but before long was running around and playing with Jazz like she was a true California pooch...although every time a wave would come in, Kisbey would run toward the shore. She had a great time and slept hard that night!

Click here for pics

Poolside

2008-08-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

It's embarrassing that we have lived in California for 2 weeks, only a few feet from a pool, and have never taken advantage of it. Well, no more! Today Josiah had his first pool experience and he seemed indifferent...didn't love it, didn't hate it. We had a great time though! It was nice to just be out in the sun and relax...a welcome change to digging through boxes and dealing with work frustrations. I think we will have to make this part of our daily routine...you know, when we can't make it to the beach :)

enjoy the pics

Thanks

2008-08-01T04:52:00.001-07:00

We just want to say thanks so much to our family + friends back in Illinois who helped us with meals, with organizing the garage sale/give-away, with packing + loading the truck...we love + miss you guys so much and are so blessed to have you as family + friends! Thanks also to Dad + Steph (pictured here doing wheatgrass shots at Jamba) for helping us with getting there and unpacking. It was so awesome to have familiar faces on this end!

First Night in California

2008-08-01T03:59:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe we have been California residents for a whole week already! It has flown by. Some of you may not have heard about my first night here...

So Dad, Kisbey, and I got into Chula Vista later in the afternoon last Friday and Chris and Mike + Beth were there to help us unload the truck while Lyndsey took Kisbey to the dog park to play (btw, thank you guys so much for helping!). We got the truck unloaded, had dinner and then it was just Kisbey + me alone with the box-filled apartment since Katie + Josiah were not set to arrive until the next morning. My plan (since I don't sleep very well when Katie is not there) was to stay up for as long as I could getting as much of a head start on unpacking boxes and arranging furniture as I could. I had been working for about 20 minutes when I realized that I should probably put felt pads on the bottom of the legs of the furniture so the wood floors wouldn't get scratched while I was moving them around. I went out to the garage and came back to find that I locked myself out of the apartment...with Kisbey trapped inside...and with my cell phone dying of course. Evidently the handle locks and I had just left my keys inside cause I was just making a short run out to the garage. I was just about to panic, being that I was on the edge of exhaustion, when I was able to pull myself together and go over to a Mary's, a neighbor that I had met during move-in, to see if there was an emergency number to call...there was not. I called Chris just so someone would know that I was trapped outside and that if he hadn't heard from me in a half hour to come and get me. After many phone calls and talking to a few more neighbors, we finally figured out that the only thing to do if you get locked out during non-business hours is to call a locksmith. I did not want to do that. I had thought that climbing onto the balcony would be a good option except that I had just locked that door right before heading to the garage because...get this, I didn't want someone to be able to get in that way! I did however, open the window to the kitchen to let in some fresh air. I decided that I would rather pay to replace the screen on the kitchen window than pay to replace the locks. So I walked up the sloped landscaping, ripped the screen and climbed through the window onto my kitchen counter. Kisbey was very happy to see me!

Updates coming

2008-07-28T23:00:00.000-07:00

hey everyone...i know its been a few days since the last post, but i will get them up soon. things are finally slowing down just a little but i am heading to bed from our home in chula vista, california...still hasn't sunk in quite yet

On the Road to Cali :: Flat Tire Update

2008-07-25T08:02:00.000-07:00

Crisis averted...Next stop, California!

On the Road to Cali :: starting off Day 4 a little flat

2008-07-25T07:43:00.001-07:00

We woke up before 6am to get an early start this morning only to find that we have picked up a screw in the rear passenger side tire on the trailer (you can see it in the picture where the yellow arrow is pointing). The tire is pretty flat so we are waiting for someone to come change it. I wanted to just drop the trailer where it is and have Penske just come pick it up but they werent cool with that. Hopefully we can get on the road soon. More to come....

On the Road to Cali :: Day 3

2008-07-24T19:56:00.000-07:00

This post is coming to you from Casa Grande, Arizona (about 1 hour south of Phoenix). Today was another solid day of driving and was by far the most scenic day we've had yet...which is why it was so unfortunate that the battery of our camera was completely drained! So I snapped a couple of pics with my cell phone. We started off the day missing the turn to get on the Interstate which would take us through Albuquerque and on to Flagstaff, Arizona. It ended up being a great surprise...let me back up. We have this great photograph of Albuquerque taken in 1969 that we got from IKEA several years ago. I really like this photo a lot (its pictured here). Anyway, back to this morning... we took a detour through town on a side street called Center. As we were driving, I saw a hotel with a really retro sign that had circles stacked on top of each other. It looked familiar to me, but I didn't know why until I saw Carlisle Street...it was the exact section of Center Street pictured in that photograph (you can see the Carlisle Street sign right above the KFC on the right side of the photograph)!!! I can't even tell you how exciting that was!...Katie knows what I'm talking about! Anyway...New Mexico was beautiful. I don't think I ever thought that it was anything more than desert, but it was such a nice drive. Arizona was really nice too, especially Flagstaff. However, as you traveled south, it got very hot. It was about what you would expect from a desert...lots of hills, cactus, sharp rocks, sand, and oven-like heat. I honestly don't understand why anyone lives in southern Arizona...for an Illinois guy it was draining. I am so thrilled to only be a short drive away from our destination! I have really enjoyed the cross-country trip with my Dad + my dog, but I am so excited to finally begin getting settled in California + prepare for the arrival of my wife + son. Love to everyone back home in Illinois...I miss you all already.

On the Road to Cali :: Day 2

2008-07-23T21:05:00.001-07:00

I am writing this entry from our hotel room in Albuquerque, New Mexico after just enjoying some Panda Express. This morning started off a little rough. Oklahoma struck again. Even though we were staying the night on a main Interstate, my cell phone spent the whole night searching for signal + was completely dead by morning which wouldn't have been a problem except that I had it set as our alarm clock! We ended up waking up at 7:45am...not too bad, but a later start than we wanted to get. I had originally had the goal to get to Albuquerque by the end of day 2. This seemed like a stretch given our late start. The day went much better than day 1 except for being sunny + very hot all through Texas. Dad + I both felt a lot less exhausted by the time we stopped for the night. Kisbey even did better, getting used to the routine of being on the road for 10 hours. Coming into New Mexico and seeing mountains and trees, it was such a nice change of scenery from the flat, hot, middle-of-nowhere desert. Tomorrow we will be heading west through New Mexico into Arizona with the goal of getting as close to the California border as possible...Yuma, Arizona would be nice, but that might be a stretch. Guess you'll have to check in for the day 3 post. Good night from Albuquerque.

On the Road to Cali :: Day 1

2008-07-22T20:23:00.001-07:00

I am writing this from Okemah, Oklahoma. I would love to comment on Oklahoma but as my mom always told me, "if you can't say something nice about a state, don't say anything at all." Wow, what a long day. We got a little head start last night + put in a full day today. Kisbey did really well riding on the floor of the truck, but at one point jumped into my lap and refused to leave. I think she was missing me after we went into a Walmart without her. It's hard to believe we have 3 more days ahead of us, but we are just going to take it one day at a time. Well I am signing off from my kinda scary hotel room in the middle of nowhere (but hey, at least it has wi-fi)...good night

Road to Cali

2008-07-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

If you are familiar with the story of Crash, then you will see that these stories intersect. The same week that Katie got in a car accident and found out that she was pregnant, our friend Chris asked us to pray about helping him and his wife Lyndsey start a brand new church. We were excited until he told us where it was going to be...Chula Vista, California....Chula Whatsa? Had it been St. Louis, Indy, Chicago...I don't even know if we would have given it much thought or prayer, but when we heard California, our hearts sunk a little cause that's like another world away. Plus we had just bought a house only 2 years ago + I had just gotten a great job at the University of Illinois + we were going to have a baby + much of our family is in Champaign...the timing just wasn't great to pack up everything and leave for a place that is far away from loved ones and is over-the-top expensive. We really had to struggle + wrestle with God over this. One day as I was praying early in the morning, I felt like I heard God say, "It's no coincidence that these happened in the same week. You trusted me to give you a child even though the odds were stacked against you + I showed myself to be faithful...now I want you to trust me with this California Church Planting thing and watch how I provide even though it makes no sense through the lense of traditional wisdom." Wow...I heard so clearly that we were being called out to the people of southern California, but Katie was still very unsettled + didn't have a peace about it. For that reason I didn't share with her my feelings about it because I didn't want her feeling any pressure. I knew that God would either call both of us to go, or call both of us to stay and I told him that if we were supposed to go that he would have to get Katie on board. We talked about it one Saturday night just to feel each other out on what we were thinking about it. Katie said that she still had a lot of anxiety about it and didn't have a peace about it, so I just reciprocated the same feeling (as to not let on that I had heard from God). The very next morning, Katie came down stairs and said, "I can't believe I am about to say this, but...I have a total peace about it. I think we are supposed to go to California!" We went to church that morning + there was a guest speaker from another church talking about how church planting is the primary vehicle of the Gospel to go to the world. God confirmed it to us + to our friends and family that this was definitely His leading. All along the way, God has shown us that He is in control despite circumstances. The U of I told me that they would like to keep me in my current position...from Chula Vista, California!? What? No just wait....Then our house sells in a bad market after only owning it for a little over 2 years for our full asking price with a closing date of the end of the month, so we won't even owe another mortgage payment. Finally, the only thing that we had left to do was find homes for our bunnies, Abbey + Helah. If not, then they would just have to be dropped off at the Humane Society and if a home could not be found, they would be put to sleep. Katie prayed, "God you have taken care of everything else + I know you care about even this. Why wouldn't you find homes for them too?" The very next day she got an email from a couple at church who was excited to take both bunnies! God is so faithful + he has cleared the way for us to follow his calling. So we are just putting our feet on the path that God is leading us on and we know that for this season of our lives, we will be living with + loving the people of Southern California + telling them about Jesus. Thanks to everyone who is supporting us in love, in prayer, through financial means (including Starbucks + Jamba giftcards...thanks Mom!) back in Illinois. We love you all so much!

Yard Sale Give-Away

2008-07-13T21:08:00.000-07:00

As we prepared to move to California, we found that we have way too much stuff. We talked about doing a garage sale...well we don't really have a garage so I guess technically it would be a driveway/yard sale. We realized how much of the stuff had been given to us by other people and thought, "why don't we just give all of it away, regardless of how much we could get by selling it." We really just wanted to use it as a way to show the free love of God to people in the community. It was absolutely pouring sheets of rain for the first hour of the give-away (btw, garage-salers are nuts) so rather than move all of the items off of the sun porch, we just put a tarp down on the floor and let people come inside. The only bad thing about this, other than the cramped quarters, was that the stuff we normally have out on the sun porch...you know, stuff we wanted to keep...was mingled in with the stuff we were giving away. We had to scramble just to make sure that the stuff we wanted to keep made its way inside the house and not out the door...almost lost my brand new running shoes! It was so successful despite the monsoon-like weather! We were left with just a small box of a few books, cds and a couple of sweaters. I did have multiple offers for the purchase of my son (which was kinda funny at first and then just creepy), but none enticing enough to part with him. I finally put one of the "Not for Sale" signs on him that Brittany had made to keep people from running off with our sun room furniture. HUGE thanks to Brittany Putman...what an amazing garage sale organizer/runner! If you are having a garage sale anytime soon, you should hire her to run it...you won't be sorry! Also, thanks to Putty for being the official barista of the Hart Yard Sale Give-Away!

Katie's 27th Birthday Scavenger Hunt

2008-07-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

I'm 27! Wow, I can't believe that.... So this is my last time to celebrate my birthday while living in Champaign and Brad wanted to do something really special for me. It took quite a lot of planning and preparation, he even took a day off from work to set up the details, well and go to the dentist and go get his hair cut. Brad took me through a journey of childhood memories in the form of a scavenger hunt. Through the hunt, I had to remember (or be reminded) of funny childhood moments in order to get the next clue. Some memories include shoveling sand into the ac unit at the home we lived in on First Street, being a bell in a musical at church, calling a wall-mounted moose head a goat, and more. It all started with a video on the laptop of Brad giving me the instructions for the scavenger hunt. (that's the picture to the side here) He brought me all around C-U from our home to our church, to Dairy Queen, to Taco Bell (that was the bell clue) to what used to be Jumer's, to the bookstore I grew up in, to the park I used to live near and played at often, to TGI Friday's (because I was born on a Friday) and once we ended up at the restaurant, he had filled it with lots of family and friends for dinner! It was a really wonderful evening, and I even got to chat with my piano teacher I had from about 2nd grade through sophmore year! I'm pretty sure that I have the most wonderful husband in the world! He said that he so enjoyed getting together with my mom and hearing all of the stories about me growing up. Oh, and we got to enjoy the Nate the Great kids books again, that was a blast for me!

Thank you to everyone that was able to make it to the restaurant for the dinner and cake time! It is so fantastic to have the wonderful friends that I do. Also, thanks to family for your participation and the gifts. It was fun to see grandma as a clue giver! Thanks to all clue givers (Heather, Carolyn, Mom, Gabe, Tara, Brittany, Grandma, Steve, Jeff & Linda, and Dad) both on phone and in person. I think this is up there for one of the best birthdays ever!
Here are the pics.

Hart Family Photo

2008-07-13T20:55:00.000-07:00

Blanket Buddies

2008-06-21T21:01:00.000-07:00

We have been trying to make sure that Josiah gets consistent "tummy time." We laid down a very soft blanket that Great Grandma Stone (thanks!) made for Josiah and put him down on it. Seconds later Kisbey walked over and laid down right next to him...it was soooo cute! Of course I had to grab my camera. Make sure you check out the one of Josiah with Kisbey resting her head on his chest. I think it may be my new favorite.

Check out the album here.

Josiah meets cousin Nolan

2008-06-19T12:09:00.001-07:00

Now here are a couple of good looking kiddos!

click here to view album

also check out Gary, Melissa + Nolan's blog

Slough Visit

2008-06-19T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! Sorry its been so long since the last post. Since we brought Josiah home, we have had lots of out of town family come visit (as well as the frequent visits by in town family). Grandpa Slough, AKA Katie's Dad came to visit + then Grandma Kosi, Great Grandma Slough and Auntie Audrey + Auntie Hannah shortly after. We had such a great time which included such classic moments as digging a very large hole in our backyard, jumping off of Krannet Performing Arts Center, and changing a diaper on the quad! Ah, so many memories...

click here for pics

Crib Time

2008-05-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

I had put Josiah down for a nap in his crib. When I came back in he was wide awake + the lighting was so great, I had to run get the camera. These are some of my favorites thus far. What a photogenic kid!

click here to view the newest album

First Bath

2008-05-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't had kids yet, but I will just say that bathing an infant is awesome! Plus you get a chance to style their hair.

click here for bath pics

Going Home

2008-05-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Click here for more photos of Josiah's transition home

Josiah :: Day 2

2008-05-14T07:45:00.000-07:00

We got some great sleeping pics of Josiah + parents (because we did a lot of that) as well as some great shots of Josiah + grandparents!
View complete album from Day 2

Josiah's First Day

2008-05-12T18:06:00.001-07:00

(One of our favorite pics of Josiah so far may be this one of him giving the okay sign)

Wow! What an amazing first day! Katie did AWESOME in labor + delivery! She focused + made it through the entire 21 hours of laboring + pushed little Josiah out with no pain medication other than some local anesthetic for the episiotomy. She was inspiring to watch and even the doctor was impressed. A very special thanks to Mom (Linda), Mom (Becky), Brittany, Steph, and Amy who were vital in getting Katie through a tough delivery!

Josiah is such a great kiddo already! He has been feeding + sleeping really well. When he is awake, he is very alert, looking around with bright, wide eyes. We are so thankful to the many people who came to visit us + little Josiah and to everyone who has been helping us with food and taking care of pets and anything else that we need. We love you all very much and are so thankful for you! If you would still like to visit we are at Carle in room 1104 of Labor + Delivery.

Click here for the complete picture collection of Josiah's first day

Labor + Delivery :: Highlights From Last Night

2008-05-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

Click here for the complete photo collection of Katie's labor + delivery

Josiah Samuel Hart

2008-05-12T03:37:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2008 2:33am
8lbs 6oz
20in long

more info/pics coming after we sleep a little.

Crash is coming :: update eleven

2008-05-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

We're in the pushing phase!

Crash is coming :: update ten

2008-05-11T21:52:00.000-07:00

As it is approaching midnight and still no Crash, Crash's birthday is going to be May 12.

Crash is coming :: update nine

2008-05-11T21:31:00.000-07:00

The water has broke...Katie's exact words were "Ohhh....that's wet." 7cm dilated. It's getting closer!!

Crash is coming :: update eight

2008-05-11T20:39:00.000-07:00

Katie is laboring actively. She is dilated 6-7cm at this point and the contractions are coming fast. She is doing very well, but is having problems finding a comfortable position for handling the contractions. We'll keep the posts coming.

Crash is coming :: update seven

2008-05-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hey this is Brad's sister Steph. Brad and Katie are tied up right now so responsibility for updating the blog has gone to me. We are at the hospital...again, although this time I think we're here to stay until this baby comes. Katie has been checked in and is handling contractions extremely well and in really good spirits. Katie is about five centimeters dilated and contractions are coming strong and often (less than two minutes apart). Katie is getting ready to get in the jacuzzi, lucky girl. I'll keep the progress updates coming as things progress.

Crash is coming :: update six

2008-05-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

hey all...really quick...contractions are very close together + very regular and we are heading to the hospital again...here we go. i will update again soon.

Crash is coming :: update five

2008-05-11T14:42:00.000-07:00

hey everyone. katie is doing awesome! we are still laboring at home waiting for the contractions to be consistent in duration before we return to the hospital. when she is active, the contractions are right in that target area, but when she lies down, they start getting erratic. we need them to stay in that target area of 3-5 min, 60 sec in length regardless of her position. man, I am so impressed with my wife! I can tell just from watching her in action + holding her hand through each contraction that labor is no picnic. She is soooo mentally tough. please continue to pray for her strength + that the contractions regulate soon. She has had intense, strong contractions every 2-8 minutes (each lasting anywhere from 30-95 seconds!) since 530am!! Its beginning to wear her out a little. we love you all + thank you so much for all your words of encouragement + prayers. I will post another update again in a little while.

Crash is coming :: update four

2008-05-11T10:26:00.001-07:00

Well the nurse said that everything is going really well except for the timing of the contractions. They are sending us out to get some food + to walk around. We aren't really sure about what is next. We could be back in the hospital in a couple of hours or it could be that the baby doesn't come today. We aren't too disappointed though because everything else is going really well + she said Crash is doing "stellar". Lots of movement and variation! So we are on hold for now. We will update when we know more! We love you guys!
b+k

Crash is coming :: update three

2008-05-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

The contractions have slowed a little so the nurses are having us do laps on the "track" as they call it (basically just laps around the labor + delivery floor) to try to get the contractions back to 5 minutes apart. After a half hour of this Katie's contractions are back where we want them. She had 6 in the half hour we were walking around + they were pretty good ones (strong + painful). Now Katie is back in bed + back on the monitor. Its our hope that they stay regular + that Crash responds well to them. So far, the nurse said that Crash is responding "perfectly" to them. I'll post again after we hear what the nurse has to say.

Crash is coming :: update two

2008-05-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

We just arrived in the hospital room where the nurse is going to check Katie out to see how far along Crash is. The heartbeat is very strong...it sounds like horses galloping! The things that we just decided on are, Katie doesn't want pain meds, I am going to cut the cord, and the last name of the baby will be Hart! Important stuff! Okay, I'll try to get another update posted again soon.

Crash is coming :: update one

2008-05-11T05:49:00.000-07:00

Wow! We never thought we would get to this day but here we are...and on Mother's Day! Katie's contractions started at 5:30am + have been pretty regular. She is laboring at home for now + she is doing awesome...I knew she would! We have been keeping track of the contractions + the time in between. The last one lasted 47 seconds + was 4:24 seconds from the previous one. We will be heading to the Carle hospital when Katie feels like she is ready to go. The hospital has WI-FI so I will be doing updates to the blog as frequently as I can. Keep checking back for the latest update. Please pray for Katie + Crash! Gotta go! Katie is having another contraction. Stay tuned...Crash is coming!

Encouraging News!

2008-05-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

We had our weekly doctor's appointment today and were able to come home with some encouraging news! Let me set this up by explaining that in the last 2 appointments over the last 2 weeks, we went in each time hoping to hear that I had dialated some or at least that the baby had dropped. Both times there was nothing to report. But today that changed! I did go into the doctors' office feeling like I'd forever be pregnant and told Brad and I really needed to leave with something encouraging. (I guess I was feeling a bit hormonally low this morning) So our doctor checked the baby's heart beat (150) and then did the other check to see if I had dialated at all, if there was any effacement and if the baby had dropped. The great news is that I've dialated 1-2 centimeters, have about 50% effacement, and the baby has begun to drop, she was able to touch the baby's head! This is a great sign that we're very near finally meeting our little on in person!

She went on to say that next week we would have a special appointment with a sonogram, a NST appointment (non-stress test) and then a check up with our doctor. They will check the size and weight of the baby, and do a few other tests to see how the baby is doing and if I'm having any mild contractions that I may not be able to sense yet. At that point, we'll discuss possibly being induced depending on how the baby and my body are prepared for it. And she said that just in case we all decide to go with the induction, she's reserving a spot for me at the hospital for next Thursday to be induced! This is all encouraging, at least knowing that she will not let me live the rest of my 26th year of life pregnant. Yay! She also said that most women don't make it to this appointment because the baby comes before hand, so there's still a chance that I'll be a mom by mother's day! Yay! So be watching daily for that exciting blog post saying that we're in labor and will be meeting our little one face to face very soon!

Okay Crash...Time to Come Out!

2008-05-02T16:33:00.001-07:00

Well, May 1st has come and gone.... sigh. I can't say that I'm feeling overdue necessarily, but I definitely am getting impatient to finally meet Crash! I am tired a lot, and still spending much of my days with my feet up to reduce the swelling, but Brad and I spend all of our time day dreaming of the excitement of having our little one in our arms! We keep talking about names (can't quite nail down a boy name) and getting teary eyed over the tiny socks in the nursery. We talk about how we will introduce Crash to Kisbey when we come home from the hospital. I have had many dreams about labor and delivery and then holding our baby (last night I dreamt we had twins!) and we are reading over and over our books both to prepare and educate, and to keep ourselves busy until it becomes a hands on learning experience. We are very excited for this child to come into the world! Crash, who certainly must take after his/her daddy, is still very active and we keep telling her/him that if he/she would just come out, there'd be so much more room to move around! (And mommy could be more comfortable in the meanwhile) I tell Brad that I would really like to be a mom for Mother's Day this year, and not an "almost mom." So stay tuned! We're hoping to meet our first child before next weekend! Tonight would be okay too!

Nephew Nolan Born April 29, 2008

2008-05-01T05:22:00.000-07:00

Melissa + Gary were due right around the same time as us so there was a race to see who would be born first between little Nolan + Crash. Looks like Crash will get runner up. Nolan Fletcher Stein was born Tuesday, weighing 7lbs 8oz + was 19in 48cm long. Melissa was induced early Tuesday morning and Nolan was out by 5:38pm CST. Congrats to Gary + Melissa! We are so happy for you guys! And welcome to the world to baby Nolan! Hopefully Crash will be joining his/her cousin soon!

Car Seat Update

2008-04-28T13:32:00.000-07:00

Yay! We got our car seat in at the end of last week. Yay! And Brad finished gathering his things for our bags for the hospital, so I think we're finally ready with the technical details. Did you hear that Crash? You can come now!

Crash Finally Moves for the Camera

2008-04-23T20:39:00.000-07:00

So I've been trying for quite a while to get a good video clip of Crash moving Mommy's belly using the camera built into my MacBook. However, everytime you go to shoot a video, the application counts down 3-2-1 before it starts recording. This countdown is accompanied by beeps for each number. Well Crash would hear that + just completely stop moving by the time it got down to 1. Last night we (well Katie) got the idea to mute it so that Crash wouldn't hear it. Brilliant! So we finally got a good clip of Katie's belly dancing. Enjoy!

Car Seat Problems...

2008-04-20T19:23:00.001-07:00

Well, we sure know how to pick them. We registered for our first car seat through a company named Combi. A very fun car seat called "Wasabi Shuttle" (you can imagine how fun that must be) that fits perfectly into the stroller we wanted, and still want for Crash. The day before my mom went to the store to buy the car seat for us, the car seat was recalled. (Thanks to Babyland for keeping track of that information for us on everything we've registered for and purchased separately. Excellent customer service!) So we went back into Babyland to pick our next carseat, and we found another great option! It's not gender specific, it's not too cheesy for our tastes, it fits nicely into the Combi Naked Stroller (a stroller frame that is made to hold the infant car seat) and we went up to the counter to purchase the car seat. Well, they found out that they were out of stock. But said that they should be receiving more on their next shipment from Graco, the company that makes the new car seat that we picked. This last week I called Babyland to see if we could get a status on the shipping of the carseat, and it turns out that Graco recently changed their computer system, or something like that, and all Graco shipments, to ALL stores that carry Graco, are receiving their shipments several weeks late. We called around to other stores that sell Graco to see if anyone else might have it in stock, and everyone is down to 1 style/option of car seat! So, Graco told Babyland that they are going to ship the car seat by Tuesday this week, which means it may be in the store for us to pick up by the end of this week, or sometime next week. But, it seems that we could go into labor anytime between now and 2.5 weeks from now! Ack! We're checking other options in the meanwhile, and just really hoping that the car seat comes in quickly and the baby after that. But not too much after that, I'm really ready to have this child in my arms instead of in my belly. Yay!

Office Baby Shower @ RE/MAX

2008-04-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

RE/MAX threw a babyshower for me and Crash! It was really very touching to see so many people from work put together a very nice shower. Sunny made shredded beef for bbq sandwiches and many people from the office contributed some other really yummy parts to the meal. I'm still looking for the person that made the fruit cobbler! It was awesome! And as you can see from the picture, we had a fun cake, which Fawn took care to make sure it was both blue and pink since we still don't know Boy or Girl. The decorations were very fun and Fawn again took care to include the right shade of green that we have in the nursery. It was just very nice to see how much people care for our little one, even before he/she is born! The gifts were very thoughtful as well, and Crash is set up so great! Thank you everyone at RE/MAX!

Baby Shower

2008-03-31T09:24:00.000-07:00

What an amazing shower! It was such a blessing to be surrounded by so many friends and family that love us and Crash so much already! The shower was really a spectacular experience with great food and fun (not cheesy) games and the gifts were really exceptional and again, just a great blessing to us. It's amazing how much "stuf" a baby needs, even before they are born! :) We did our first 2 loads of baby laundry with baby laundry soap (thanks Michelle) and are quite excited to get a mattress for the crib so we can really get the nursery looking closer to complete. And we folded the little onsies and gowns and hooded towels and socks and caps this morning and got even more excited about the coming soon arrival of little Crash! Brad can't wait to put the little stocking hats on Crash and we're both pretty thrilled with little socks!

Thanks to mom and Brittany for throwing/hosting such a fantastic shower! And thanks also to Linda, Debbie and Val for help with food and extra chairs! I can't think of a moment I didn't absolutely love! And it was so wonderful for me to have Brad there taking pictures and enjoying the afternoon as well.

Make sure to check out the pictures. Brad really enjoyed the camera and actually cut the total picture number down from 491! He's such an enthusiastic photographer!

Click here for baby shower photos

Brad + E.T. test Crash's backpack

2008-03-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

We have already received some great baby gifts so far. One of the more recent ones was an awesome baby backpack carrier which Katie's Mom got for us. I was so excited to see how it worked so E.T. + I took it for a test drive. I just know that I am going to use this thing ALL THE TIME! I've even thought about just wearing it out with Kisbey when we go grocery shopping + stuff just to get some good practice. The great thing about this particular model of backpack is that it can carry everything from an infant to a toddler to a full size adult! Crash isn't even here yet + I already love this! Thanks so much Dale + Becky!
Click here for pics.

Building the crib...

2008-03-20T09:24:00.000-07:00

The crib that we really had our sights set on was on Target.com only. It seemed like we weren't going to ever find one cause they didn't make very many of them + it was a popular model. Luckily Mom was all over it + was able to track one down! It finally arrived yesterday + despite the fact that I had been gone all day and arrived home around 10pm, I couldn't resist the urge to stay up + put it together. Katie decided that she would stay up with me and make sure that I followed all the directions (even though I didnt need them :). She's so awesome! The whole thing actually went very smooth thanks to Katie's attention to detail. We also had some fun burying Kisbey in a mound of packing gauze. We LOVE Crash's crib. It is awesome + I know that Crash will sleep well in their (we hope). Thanks so much Mom + Jeff!
Check out the rest of the pics here.

Due Date Moved...Again!

2008-03-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

The doctors say that Crash is growing like crazy + have moved the due date up again! They said typically they like it when the baby comes out AND THEN GROWS. Crash disagrees. The new due date is May 1, 2008. Crash is coming...

Registry

2008-03-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that we are registered at Target. We found some things at Target would not be available until after the baby has come...things that we will need right away. So...we have also registered at Babyland. Here are the links to the two registries:

Target
Babyland

September 14th, 2007 :: The Story of Crash

2008-02-18T08:18:00.000-08:00

This has been a long time coming. Brad and I wanted to share with everyone the fantastically crazy story of how we learned about Crash.

On Friday, September 14th at about 12:20pm, I was driving from work to home for my lunch break. There's a 4-way stop intersection about 2 blocks from work that I go through at least a few times every day to and from work. It was a beautiful day, as though we were hanging onto summer just a bit longer, so I had my windows down and was enjoying the fresh air and breeze coming through my car. I pulled up to that 4-way stop, waited my turn, and started go straight through the intersection. I was very nearly across when I saw out of the corner of my eye a car approaching too quickly on my right side and the next thing I knew I was hit and my left hand hurt. That was strange to me, I didn't understand why my left hand hurt because it never left the steering wheel. I learned quickly that I couldn't move my car at all, so it was going to stay in the middle of the intersection until a tow truck came for it. I was a little bit fuzzy in my brain after the impact and I couldn't really pull myself together to figure out what to do next. Fortunately the woman that lives on that corner came out immediately (haven't heard the impact) and checked on both of us drivers. The other driver must have been fine because I heard the neighbor woman say, "ok, good" before asking me if I was okay. I told her that I thought that my hand was broken and she said, "oh no!" And fortunately she called the police, or 911, or whoever it was that she called every time there was an accident at that intersection. She told me later that they get a couple of accidents a year there, and I later saw a For Sale sign in her yard! I wonder if they got fed up with the sound effects of living on that corner.

I knew that Brad was in a lunch time large meeting and wouldn't likely have his ringer on on his phone, but I decided I'd try calling it anyway. Mom and Dale were in an hour long conference call and wouldn't be answering their cell phones, Grandma was out of town, and I couldn't remember what the meeting/work schedule was like for Linda, so I just kept calling Brad. Fortunately Kathleen, a co-worker to Brad and mutual friend from church, heard Brad's phone vibrating on the 2nd or 3rd attempt to reach him, and he called me back. I can't imagine what it must be like to be on the other end of that kind of a phone call. Brad was very level-headed and told me to "get out of the intersection" and go to the sidewalk if I could. He was going to do everything he could to come to me. That would be a bit of a trick because he takes a bus to work because parking on campus is difficult and expensive. Thankfully Kathleen had her car on campus and volunteered to leave the lunch meeting early with Brad to drive him to me at the accident site. In the meanwhile, Brad called his mom who wasn't far away and she was able to come to me very quickly, thank goodness. Before I knew how Brad was going to get to me and that Linda was on her way, I called Brittany because she's the only other person I could think of that I knew would be on her lunch break at that precise moment. I am so blessed to have so many people around me who love and care for me enough to drop what they are doing to help me when I feel out of control, not that I'm out of control often, but I definitely felt that way in that moment.

The fire station was only a block down the street, so the fire truck was the first to respond to the scene, and the great firemen worked hard to try to help me feel more comfortable and to answer question to the police officer who came next. I can't tell you how many times I told people my address and name in that time. Not too long after that the ambulance arrived and the EMT's were really great in trying to help me stablize my hand, although everyone was pretty much convinced that I couldn't possibly have broken my hand, but maybe my wrist or thumb, and no one could figure out how even that could have happend since my hands never left the steering wheel during the impact. They put me on a strecher just as Linda was arriving. She came up to me as they were strapping me in and I just broke down and lost all emotional restraints! It was such a relief to have someone there who could take over answering questions and who would make sure that my purse made it to me again, and I can't say how deeply thankful I am that she was able to come so quickly.

They moved me to the ambulance pretty quickly, but I was so much more confident about the situation knowing that Linda was there to meet Brad, and answer questions, and all the other little things that come up in that kind of situation, like about the car that I didn't know if I'd ever drive again. Just before we pulled away, Brittany got there and they let her into the ambulance for about a minute to see me and I started to cry again. Every time someone came to help, I let go of a little more of the emotion created by the chaos of the situation. We then started to pull away to go towards the hospital, and I learned just a short time later that Brad and Kathleen were pulling up just in time to see the ambulance leave. Fortunately he was able to jump in the car with his mom and they took off for the hospital to meet me in the Emergency Room. Before Brittany left, I asked her if she would call my mom and leave a voice mail for her because I wasn't sure how soon she'd be done with her conference call.

So the EMT's were so friendly and relaxed with me, which was nice because I couldn't have otherwise felt more stress from the situation. They brought me to the ER and put me in a wheel chair, since my hand didn't require a strecher... :) And at that point it was just me again. I started answering questions for the triage desk nurse about my name and address, again, and my health insurance info, and that's when Brad got there and I lost it again. He helped answer the rest of the questions and then wheeled me over to the waiting area. Brad's mom joined us after she parked the car and eventually I was pulled into another room to get my vitals. The police officer from the scene arrived eventually and asked me more clarifying questions about the accident and we learned that he had determined certainly that she ran the stop sign and I wouldn't be held responsible for the accident. Phew!

After a few more minutes in the waiting room, they took me back to an actual exam room in the triage area. At this point I was still trying to convince everyone that it was my hand that hurt, not my wrist. So the nurse in the exam room brought me ice to try to bring down the swelling. My hand hurt from the weight of the ice though, so we had to do some tricky ice holding. My mom called and somehow we had enough reception for Brad to get the call and be able to go out and meet her to bring her into the room, and Linda got to watch as I painfully pulled the rings of my left hand so that they wouldn't be casted.

Brad got mom to the room we were in and she was another positive person to have in the room. She told me that during the conference call, she saw that she was missing a call on her cell phone and received a voice mail from it, and when she checked it, the message was from a very upbeat Brittany giving her the news of my accident. Brittany was trying hard to not make the accident sound worse or to freak out my mom, but just to give her the news so that she could join me at the ER. Yay for Brittany!

So the order of events gets a little blurry for me here, and this post has gotten very long, so I'll try to short cut it.

The ER doctor came in to check my hand/wrist/arm to try to determine if there was a break, he checked my shoulders neck and head to make sure I didn't sustain any other injuries from the accident, and then told me he'd be sending in some one to take x-rays of my hand to determine exactly the situation. During all of this he asked me if I was pregnant or could be pregnant and I answered "well, we've been trying so there's always a possibility." That meant that in the meanwhile I would take tylenol for the pain and nothing more.

By this point I had to go to the bathroom soooo badly! I was only my way out the door of the room to try to find the restroom when a nurse came by with a "pee in a cup" cup and told me where the restroom was. I really thought that this was to check for internal injuries or bleeding or something like that, so I didn't think twice about it possibly being a pregnancy test. Of course all thoughts were gone when I tried to open the cup with my broken hand, such pain, and found it very difficult to do. I finally squeezed it between my feet and opened it with my right hand. Ha!

Back in the room, there were x-rays, and another exam of some sort I think. Finally, the doctor comes back into the room after viewing the x-rays and says he has 2 things to tell us. At this point, Brad, my mom, Linda and I were all in the room together. He says "first, you're pregnant." And that was the end of concentration! Linda and my mom started crying and exclaiming and hugging all of us, Brad and I stood/sat in amazement. He then said, through the continued exclaiming, "and now let me tell you about your broken hand." Now both moms didn't hear this part because of the celebrating over the first piece of news. Brad had to catch their attention to bring them back to hear about the broken hand. In the meanwhile, the doctor had to close the room to the door because we were concerned we were disturbing other people down the hall, probably not having the same exciting news we were having.

Now don't get me wrong, I was thrilled to know we were pregnant, finally, after almost 3 years of trying. But my hand hurt soooo badly at that point, I just wanted to have some resolution and relief! He showed and explained the x-rays, discussed the temporary cast I'd get that day and the permanent cast I would get in orthopedics on Monday. They gave me the temp cast, and we left the ER.

The rest is just details, but we left elated and quite hungry. Both Brad and I had not been able to eat lunch, so we had an early dinner/ late lunch with mom, Linda and Dale at a Mexican restaurant, made lots of phone calls, both to announce the pregnancy and to get in touch with our insurance agent about the accident, fun. For the weekend, we shuffled all other plans in exchange for making more phone calls, reading the books about pregnancy that mom bought, and having lunch with Steph and Dan, Brad's sister and b-i-l. Steph was so excited when we called to tell her the news on Friday evening, that she and Dan drove down that night to have breakfast and visit with us the next day. Those crazy kids! It was great to see them so quickly and a real thrill for us to have even more people so excited to celebrate with us about the great news!

Over all, it was a fantastic weekend! Of course my hand hurt, and I did have to go through a few weeks with a wonderful purple cast that looked like a sock puppet on my hand, but the whole experience really demonstrated to us God's faithfulness on His promise to bring us healing and a baby. And that's where Crash's name came from. As Brad originally said, it's where our faith and God's faithfulness collide. As with any child, this one is a miracle, but the experience has been and will surely continue to be special in ways we couldn't have anticipated if we had been able to get pregnant right away. A test in our patience for sure, but worth the closeness we have gained to one another and to Him. And of course, the eventual gift of the little one coming soon to a hospital near us!

katie felt crash move for the first time...

2007-12-02T19:57:00.000-08:00

last night at dinner, katie felt crash move for the first time.

fifteen weeks...or is it sixteen?

2007-11-27T18:15:00.000-08:00

last week we got to listen to crash's heartbeat clearly for the first time! it was strong + rhythmic like the beginnings of a great song.