In Honor of Abuelo

Thank you Abuelo for all you have done for our family, your love, support, laughter and service to this country.  We have so many stories to tell Kate about her Great Grandfather. I miss you and love you so much.

Abuelo's 61st birthday and my 6th.

Abuelo's 80th birthday and my 25th!

Abuelo and Kate meeting for the first time.

Abuelo gave Joe the hat he is wearing. We will treasure it, it meant a lot to Abuelo.

Abuelo's service was beautiful. There were almost 300 people there to honor his life and celebrate it! I know too there were more people not able to make it.  He touched SO many lives. 

My Abuelo, Abuela and Dad this last Fathers Day.  They have the same name and besides the height difference look just the same!

"Hasta Luego, never goodbye" Abuelo.

He always told me that (and everyone).

Our growing girl

Holy cow, where have the last 4 weeks gone!?!! It seems like time is passing by way too fast already.  Kate is doing awesome and growing like a champ.  She had her first smile this last week, and we can't get enough now!! 

We just got back from a quick trip to California.  Kate got to meet her Great Grandpa Rudy and a ton of other family too.  My Grandfather is not doing well.  It was so good to see him and my family, it was a much needed trip.

We love you Abuelo!



Finally, our daughter is here

Kate LeeAnn Hoffman
10-6-10 7lbs. 11oz. 20 3/4in. 4:17pm

So we decided (doctor and I) Kate needed a little coaxing to come out of her cozy home.  I checked into the hospital Tuesday October 5th about 11pm along with my Mom. The pitocin drip started at about 6:30am Wednesday and after a few hours of lots of contractions an epidural, and a re-do of that epidural... Kate was born! She gave us quite a scare though the first few minutes of her life. She came out "floppy" so the doctor called a code blue and about 2 seconds later there were probably 10 people in our room hovering over her.  It took some time but we finally heard that first cry and could not have been more relieved.  They are not too sure what caused what happened, but all we know is she is just fine now!
She has a tender cry and uses it quite sparingly.  She is a great eater and loves to sleep.  We are hoping she keeps that up for a long time!

Nana and Kate

Papa and Kate

Thank you to my parents for EVERYTHING you are amazing and we love you so much.

I will post a lot more pictures soon.

Waiting for baby

If you know me, you know I am a planner. 

And not knowing when our baby girl will make her big debut into the world is hard!  The countdown says about 15 more days, we'll see.

I am completely exhausted lately. I wonder if I will get that burst of energy before labor starts or not.  Good thing is, I will know if I do because I am running on empty at the moment. 

For those that are wondering about my progress, (if you don't mind TMI read on....)

Last Friday at the doctors I was 1cm dilated and about 70% effaced.  I go again tomorrow morning and will get checked again.  I am hoping for a bigger number on both of those! I have been having a few good contractions, so I have hope! I mean this pregnancy can't last FOREVER right!!? Cause it sure does feel that way sometimes.

I try to waddle, I mean walk, a lot and I am still going to my prenatal swim class twice a week. 

Well, stay tuned for a progress report.

My 30's

I am officially done with my twenties!

Wow.

Joe gave me a drawing of my grandfather, we share the same birthday.  It is so special to me, and I am so proud of it! This picture just doesn't do it justice but I have to show it off.

Behind him is the San Juan Capistrano Mission

This is an actual photo of him. My husband is an amazing artist!

Ready to rock

Thank you Mom and Dad for the rocking chair!

I think we have everything ready to go, just waiting for baby to decide when she is ready to meet us.

I have heard a lot that my pregnancy has gone by so fast! =/ uhm... not from where I'm standing it hasn't.  It really has been such an incredible experience and I am thankful everyday for this blessing.  But I sure am ready to meet our little bundle of joy!

So this will probably be the last belly shot unless someone is sneaky in the hospital room before I deliver ;)

36 weeks aka 9 months aka are we done yet?

Don't mind the wet hair in a bun look I have going.

T-minus 4 days till my big 3-0. Wow.

But for now, I am still enjoying my 20's!!

32 weeks And put the crib together!

So this was last week, I will try to keep up on belly pics I have been slacking! And I am running out of time to do them =/  This was taken at 32 weeks and 1 day. So for those of you who only know pregnancy by months, I am about 8 months.  Seven weeks to go, give or take.

Not sure why the crib looks so small behind me, or why I look like a giant by it. I am so proud of myself that I was able to put the crib together all by myself!  This painting was given to us by Joe's grandparents, we love it!

We also just got a changing table.  This crib did not having any other matching furniture so finding a close match was tough. But I found one! I was at a consignment shop for children's stuff and there it was, only $45! And Joe's favorite part about it, it was already assembled.

So now just about 50 days to go till we get to meet this baby girl!  I know it will be here before we know it too.

Baby shower

My cousin made the flower arrangements, and Joe's mom found the baby buggy. So cute together!

I had such a wonderful baby shower. Everything was beautiful!! Thanks to Joe's mom, his sisters, dad, my mom and the rest of the family who helped too! The entire day felt pretty surreal, this was a party for the baby girl Joe and I are about to welcome into the world.  Even as I wash and put away all the clothes and presents, I can't hardly believe Kate will be here soon and Joe and I will be parents.  I have dreamed of this time and it's all happening now. It brings on so many emotions! 

This outfit I'm holding (can't see the pants that match) is what my parents brought me home from the hospital in. My Mom saved it alllll these years and gave it to me so Kate can wear it home from the hospital.

This was the table of delicious food and deserts we had; I went back a few times!

Two proud Grandma's!

Excited Auntie's to be!

We were all so tired after the party. A little relaxing time and more visiting together, my favorite things!

I'm so thankful for all my family and friends who were able to make it to the shower, I felt so blessed.

My Dad drove me back home and stayed a few days with us. He was put to work helping Joe paint the entire house with a special primer (last renters smoked and the smell never went away), and then the regular color over that. They were exhausted!

Thanks Dad!! We love you!

Joe tried out the new baby carrier and felt he needed some weight in it to get the full effect.

Belly Picture update

So here we are at 25 weeks and 5 days! The countdown shows about 100 days left. AHHH!!

She has been moving like crazy the past few days.  I am feeling good just get tired easy.  

Next doctors appointment I will be doing the glucose test to make sure I don't have gestational diabetes.  You have to drink this "stuff" and then have your blood taken an hour after. I hate shots. Wish me luck!

Camping trip

We went on a short weekend camping trip to Lost Lake in Oregon.  It was supposed to be ok weather, but it turned into a cold and wet trip.  We had fun though and it was really nice to get out of the house.  We had made a trip there one time before about 4 years ago this month. That trip was much different, the weather was beautiful and dry.  

The first day the weather tricked us!

It got a lot colder the next day. Thor is bundled up with Joe.

Happy Fathers Day!

So the last two weeks have been ok.  Getting use to the idea that Rusty isn't waiting for us to pick him up from somewhere or waiting in the garage for us each morning and all those other little things that are not in our daily schedules anymore has been hard.  I know I think about him everyday and wish for just one more hug I could give him and kiss on that huge head.  The tears still fall pretty easy for him.  You can tell Thor is missing him too; his big brother, his security blanket.  We continue to talk about all the stories we remember with Rusty, there are so many! 

Three days after saying goodbye to Rusty, Joe and I had our three year wedding anniversary.  We went to a place called McMenamins Edgefield, hard place to explain but it is really fun and pretty outdoor atmosphere. We ate dinner outside, played a couple games of pool and sat on a porch in rocking chairs just enjoying the time together.

This last weekend my Aunt Sheryl and cousin Alyssa were visiting us for a couple days before they headed on a road trip to Canada. And they are stopping through one more time tonight before they head back to California.  It was so fun to have them and visit!!  

I am 25 weeks along today and things are going great!  She is quite the mover and I enjoy every minute of it, it's still my favorite thing to just watch her kick and squirm around.  I will post a picture hopefully today so you can see how much we've grown! 

Joe is finally finished for the summer with going to his class at school, now he will just do an online course until the end of August.  He is doing wonderful as usual in school. This last class his professor asked to use one of his papers as an example for future classes! I'm so proud of him.

We are going camping this weekend at Lost Lake, Oregon.  We thought it would be fun to get away for the weekend and just relax.  Of course we would so much rather be celebrating Fathers Day with our Dads back home =(

Saying goodbye to a friend

Tomorrow we will be saying goodbye to our dog Rusty.  He is over 14 1/2 years old, and has been Joe's best bud since the day he was born.  If you have ever met Rusty you know he has the biggest, sweetest, kindest most loving heart and would do anything to have his head rubbed.  

Please keep us in your prayers.

You are so loved Rusty.

21 weeks and counting

Wow, 21 weeks have gone by already! Our little girl will be here before we know it.  

Yesterday I met up with Joe's cousins to hit a big children's consignment sale. We all went to one about a month ago, but not knowing what the sex was made it hard to pick things out. But this time I found a few things.  I picked up a lock for the toilet seat super cheap and brand new!  Two swaddle blankets,8 pairs of jammies (one set had duplicates), and a fun set of blocks and a wiggle toy that are from pottery barn. 

All of this for $30!

Well here is the "real deal" picture.

I can't believe how much "we" have grown! My favorite thing right now is watching my belly move when she kicks and wiggles around.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Girl!!

We are having a girl

Writing that almost feels as crazy as when I wrote we're pregnant.  To be able to start imagining our little girl now and not just "the baby" changes things.  It's one more big step to her actually being here.  Not sure if that explains it well how I'm feeling. I can't seem to take my eyes off this little black and white picture of her, I just want to kiss those little lips already!!  We can tell she has Joe's nose which is adorable.

The top picture is of her face, forehead to the left chin to the right. The bottom pic is in the same direction but you can see her nose and lips, I love this shot.

During the ultrasound Joe and I got to see her waving and doing a little tap dance, I sure have felt the dances but seeing it was so fun.

She is right on track and everything is where it is supposed to be! Praise the Lord!

No name has been picked yet, so stay tuned.

We had a wonderful time in Cali for Lizzi and Chris's wedding.  The day was beautiful, the bride was gorgeous and it was just all around an awesome day.  It went way too fast so I ended up staying a few more days longer while my wonderful husband went back to work and school.  He's the best. I have a few pictures to post from the wedding which I will add later.  I was having so much fun I kept forgetting to take lots of pictures!
5/18/2010
Ok, here are the few pics I got on our trip.

Big brother and the beautiful bride.

Proud Father of the Bride.

Yay for being in the wedding party! Don't we clean up nice.

Our new brother in law, Chris.
Yay for more brunettes joining the family!

I LOVE this guy.

Our favorite guy, RB.

The Matrons of Honor!