More Pictures and lil Update

Kailey is 5mos! It has been a while and I accept full responsibility for not posting. I would like to promise more frequent posts but given how active she is -- that's not something I can deliver for certain. BUT, I will try. Anyway - things in Kailey land are grand. Here's a quick (I mean QUICK) update.

She:
laughs
smiles all the time
grabs for things
pulls my hair
started eating rice cereal this week (Organic brown rice)
still wakes up all night
weighs 14lbs, 6oz
got her ears pierced
owns two pairs of Nikes
rolls over
is starting the teething process

We:
love her
sleep less
laugh uncontrollably when she laughs
take pictures all the time
speak in "Kailey talk"
love her
adore her
thank God for her.

HERE's some pictures... Enjoy (and please comment).

Much Love,
The Parents


Hanging at home on her gym!


Kailey's first Christmas! Good Morning family


Tummy time!


Getting her read on!

5 Weeks and Counting - PICTURES

5 Weeks and Counting!!! Kailey will be 6 weeks this Saturday -- she's getting so big.

Greetings All,
All is well with our little baby girl. She is growing well and consuming all our energy and love. Here are some pictures of our lil sweet pea. We'll follow-up soon with a more narrative description of our life and the adventures of Baby Robinson.
Enjoy!









Much Love,
Momma and Poppa Robinson

Introducing Kailey

Hi All,

It's been a while and you've guessed it! Baby Kailey Amaris Robinson is HERE. In fact she is 3 weeks old and full of beauty, surprises, sleepless days and nights, love and blessings. Here's a quick update on lil Miss Kailey.

Born -- Saturday, September 05, 2009 at 7:12am Weight -- 6lbs & 14oz Length / Height -- 20in

Why Kailey? Why Amaris?
Kailey is a fusion of her parent's names (Kacy & Leandrew), but more importantly Kailey means "crowned with Laurel." A crown of laurel is a sign of victory. And Amaris means "as promised by God." So, our little one's name means "victory as promised by God." We were careful in choosing her name, because the meaning was very important to us, and after seeing her and being with her we knew that God ordained her to be victorious only -- which is why her name is Kailey Amaris.

Labor
Whew! What an experience. I knew before going into labor that this would be a never before felt sensation, but I had no idea it would feel like it felt. While it was painful, I kept telling myself that this was purposeful pain and that I was laboring for the birth of my daughter. In many ways labor is a perspectives thing. It seems like we have been so scared by the pains of labor that people often don't talk about the beauty of the experience, so I will. I must start by saying that YES IT DOES HURT and YES it is difficult and complex, but at the same time is is DOABLE, BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, and life changing -- and can be done without all the medical interventions and yes even without the epidural.
Laboring for Kailey was wonderfully intense. I thought Thursday (Sept. 03) her due date, I was in labor but it only kinda started. I had contractions starting at around 5am on Thursday and then the fizzled out by noon, so Leandrew and I walked downtown Oakland for hours trying to "walk the baby out."I guess it worked, because on Friday I did go into labor. We labored at home for as long as possible -- I labored in the bed, in the bathtub (with candles), on the floor, and in Leandrew's arms. [Leandrew was the perfect labor support partner -- truly we did it together] Our parents made it to our house by the late evening and assisted us in the process (all while encouraging us to "GO TO THE HOSPITAL" -- even as we resisted). Finally, we reached the point when we decided to head to the hospital and have our baby. After laboring for more hours at the hospital it was time for delivery -- time to push. After about 10-15minutes of pushing Kailey Amaris Robinson made her appearance on Saturday morning!


Hemolytic Jaundice Condition
After moving to the postpartum area we were given the news that Kailey had to stay in the hospital in the "well baby nursery" for a few days because she had a condition caused by our blood's incompatiblity creating a high bilirubin count in her body or jaundice. Kailey was treated with aggressive phototheraphy for 4 days after her birth. During this time we stayed strong and I tried not to breakdown. She was away from us most of the day -- we were with her every 3 hours for 30 minutes for feeding. This was hard because we had become so accustomed to being together and we wanted her with us, not with the nurses under hot, bright lights; even though we knew it was for her health. On Wednesday (Sept. 09) we were finally given the green light to take her home -- Kailey was progressing nicely and the doctors believed this trend would continue, and continue it did.

Home with Kailey
Being home with Kailey is amazing. She is a pure ball of joy -- even at 1am, and again at 3am and again at 5am and again... and again. Kailey is the queen of funny faces and has the most precious little lips. She has plowed through many packages of diapers and we are washing blankets, onesies, towels and booties all the time. Being home with Kailey is special. However, we are excited to get out of the house and do something! Sooner than later we will be walking the lake and touring the city. Until then small trips are all the joy for us.


WE LOVE HER!

We love her so much and so does all her family. Everyone is super excited about her arrival and I can't send enough pictures to my aunts in Los Angeles. She has yet to meet all her Bay Area family, sooner than later this will happen. And then she'll be jet-setting to LA to meet more family. Kailey has so much love.



THANK YOU
We are so blessed to have amazing people in our lives -- and Kailey is just as blessed. Thank you all for all your prayers, gifts, love and support that you have shared with us during this time, we appreicate you and your love.

Until the next time -- Be Well,
Mommy & Daddy Robinson

More pictures to come soon!

FULL Term!

Hey Family,

We are officially full term. Which means (according to babycenter.com) if the baby arrives now, her lungs should be fully mature and ready to adjust to life outside the womb, even though our due date is still three weeks away. Our lil baby about weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. We are very excited to meet her in person and not just talk to her in utero, although this has been fun because she responds.

Life for us is moving quite swiftly. We are nearing the completion stages for her room (eeek, better hurry only 3 week [maybe] to go), and have completed most of our baby prep classes. In some ways, babies do come with an instruction manual, but it's just really general & vague instructions; like this is a car, instead of this is a Lexus, this model and so on. But having the general guidelines, makes it fun to imagine how she will look and react to all the things in the world. And as she experiences the world new, so too will we. We will be completely new people when she arrives, we will be PARENTS! And not, just any parents, but the parents to a gift which God has so graciously bestowed in our care, parents to OUR baby. I pray we will do the delicate and complex work of God's hands well.


PICTURES FROM THE BABY SHOWERS



So, what has been happening in the last month? Outside of my growing belly and Leandrew's growing excitement...
We have:
... had baby showers and received so much love and support from our friends and families that we were amazed. I often marvel at how sweet folks are and how they love us and our little baby.
... taken classes (newborn care, breastfeeding, & childbirth prep).
... spent money (these lil suckers ain't cheap).
... gone back and forth about her names (first & middle... we know the last).
... tried numerous sleep positions to try to get comfortable -- sitting up is the latest.
... created a laboring playlist (gotta get the jams right for the contractions)
... created a birthplan
... researched just about eveything concerning this child


And just another quick note -- Family is never to be underestimated in their love for you, and this was shown so clearly through both baby showers. I cannot even express in words my deep and dear appreciation for the work and love that went forth at the showers, truly I was showered and overcome with emotion at the close of the day. So, to all my family THANK YOU!

I guess that is it for now, but I am sure after I post this i'll think of something else. Anyway -- sending much love from our family to yours.

Be Well.

Remember US!

TWO WHOLE MONTHS of life has passed and tremendous growth has occurred.

I guess we should apologize for the delay in getting a new blog out -- so sorry, our bad. A short recap is order and then to some updates.



-- We are no longer living in Cambridge / Boston, Massachusetts -- and occasionally I think we miss it, especially all the long walks through the city.
-- We are back in California and enjoying every minute of it. The Bay Area weather has been very pleasant and not too warm, so the belly & I aren't as uncomfortable as many people speculated a summer pregnancy would be.
-- I graduated!! YAY. And Harvard's graduation was all we expected such a university's graduation would be. The graduation was full of pomp and circumstance, ceremonial gestures, witty and intellectually robust speeches, sleepy family members, and elated graduates.

-- We were technically without our own home for a one month. Big thanks to all the friends and family who opened their homes to this expecting family. We moved back to our home (1511 Jefferson! Friday July 03).
-- I am 8 months (32weeks) pregnant -- Baby girl Robinson is due Sept. 03, 2009, let's she if she wants to come early or late. Any guesses? To make matter more interesting she is due one week after my fellowship is scheduled to be completed, so prayerfully she holds on.
-- Baby Robinson weighs about 3.75 pounds -- yet some how Mommy Robinson has gained nearly 25pounds.
-- Baby Robinson's first cousin Alexis is extremely excited about her cousin. She is ready for sock duty -- Lexi always says she gonna put the baby's socks on.
-- Leandrew was kicked in the face by the baby (hehehe) -- she moves a lot.
-- We are back at Covenant Worship Center -- THANK GOD -- where today during service Pastor Woods referred to us (Myself, Renee and Tiana [all pregnant]) as the pregnant triplet mommas.

-- People are always surprised that I am in my third trimester. When I first started working at the school district (Vallejo City Unified) people looked at me sideways when I said I was 7 months, so I started just saying "oh the end of 6 months." And this older lady told me "you look like a bee, stung you in your belly." I got a kick outta that.
-- Baby Shower in LA this weekend -- I am super excited. I can't wait; I get to see my family and LA friends (July 18, 2009 @ Kandice's house)!
-- Daddy and Belly Pictures on their way soon.
-- HAPPY 26th BIRTHDAY KANDICE :-)

Okay enough for now -- plus it's time to make dinner -- hungry baby needs food.

Much Love,
KDR (the mommy)

SHE moves!!!!

Greetings ALL,

I am in the crunch of finals so forgive the brevity of this post and the length of time between posts. After graduation you shall have more frequent updates.

Anyway - -I am writing now as I am supposed to be multi-tasking between a final (accountability design) paper and a final take-home (finance) test... gotta love procrastination.

#1 - YEP, she's a girl. We found out about 4weeks ago.
#2 - MOVEMENT - and lots of it... as of today I can see the movement by looking down at my belly. It looks as if my stomach has the hiccups (this visible movement is why I was compelled to update the blog)
#3 - People still stare at my belly, then offer me their seats on the bus.
#4 - The students in my program (SLP - School Leadership) surprised me with a pre-class 5minute baby shower (sweet, huh?), complete with handwritten messages and the works, plus they bought the baby her first Harvard sweatshirt -- now we gotta get her a CAL sweatshirt (can't leave out UCB)
#5 - She weighs about 1 pound (yet I have gained much more than that) and is about 11inches from head to toes...
#6 - Pictures from Easter
#7 - Gotta get back to work! Love y'all.

Even preggars get the fly stilettos sometimes! ;-)

-Kacy -- MommyRobinson

Baby Robinson Meets a Great Woman

Today our little baby met Angela Burt-Murray, the editor and chief of Essence Magazine. Her husband invited us to hear her speak at a Middle School for low-income girls in Boston. The speech was great and really inspired our baby to be the best she can be. Angela talked about her coverage of the Obamas and the lessons they've taught her.

This really made me think about the wonderful time our baby is being born into. A time of unforeseen possibility for black folks and unprecedented change. It's kind of like the world is hitting the reset button. Although this change is painful (with the recession and all) it gives us all an opportunity to redefine our destiny and leap after our dreams. I'm glad our little one will have the chance to call her shot and reach for the stars. Can't wait for her to realize the great times in which she was born!