Kara’s Korner

What a comotion a baby can cause!  When we planned to go visit Katie-bob, we had no idea that we’d get to see Cooper (who stayed home after lunch so he could meet little Kara), Ray-bob (who came home early), and Natalie too!  What fun it was for Kara who got to be the center of attention, and had no shortage of people to hold her!  Not only that, on her first visit Kara achieved "bob-hood" and will now be known as "Kara-boo-bob."

Katie-bob’s

Thanks for the patience as as our blogging skills develop; we now finally have a full collection of photos of Kara’s first weeks.  You can see albums added to various posts from March 6th onwards, (ie The longest 12 hours…) or to see them all, go to "Picture Album" on the left side under "Navigation."

Also, you may notice the blog is growing from the middle out…After the first week or so, I managed to start recording some of my reflections from Kara’s birth.  However, not wanting to upset the timeline, I resorted to "backdating" my posts.  So, if your interested, you can go back to March 6th and see the new more rounded out account of Kara’s first 3 weeks. 

Kara’s third week has been a busy one!  She had her first bath, she’s discovered much more of the world around he, now tracking to look at toys and light.  Her doctors visit last week confirmed that she’s growing fast!  She’s 3/4 of an inch taller than when she was born, and has gained 13 ounces since we left the hospital.  She’s stronger too!  She can hold her head up now and is able to ride around in her new favorite thing - her snuggly carrier. 

Now that that pesky umbilical cord is off, Kara got to go for a swim!  She enjoyed the water for the most part, though was a bit nervous at first. 

Her favorite part was snuggling up in her bunny towel to dry off.

It’s been two whole weeks since Kara made her unforgettable entrance!  Two weeks of getting to know this precious gift from God - her smiles and expressions, and those beautiful brown eyes…of course I could go on, but you get the idea.  I continue to look at her in wonder that God formed her so perfectly and completely in just eight and a half months, and marvel that he would entrust such a beautiful creation to us.  God is indeed rich in compassion and mercy, of which Kara is a daily reminder.  Needless to say, I am delighted and overwhelmed with the task!

We are so thankful that she continues to grow well - averaging 1.5 to 2 ounces per day.  Her hair is growing longer, so now its kind of everywhere at  once.  Not quite long enough for ribbons and pig-tails yet…  Her face has filled out, and that perfect rosebud mouth is getting fuller - must be all the exercise its getting.  The jaundice that had delayed our leaving the hospital by a day has completely disappeared to reveal a beautiful olive complexion that makes her look like an Indian version of my baby pictures.  She apparently has decided that eating is her new favorite pastime, since she’s gone from feeding every three hours, to pitifully bemoaning her starving state almost hourly.  Of course who could resist those big brown eyes - even if it is 2 am!  I love this job!

On Saturday we all went to the Dallas Botanical Garden, where the tulips were in bloom - it was beautiful.  But not nearly as beautiful as baby Kara - every time we stopped to take a picture a crowd would gather - of course Kara took all this celebrity treatment in stride.

We had a wonderful time exploring the gardens with the whole Roberts family.  We took so many pictures of the flowers, of Kara, and Kara in the flowers!  We can’t wait to go back through the year and enjoy each season of the beautiful examples of God’s creation!

Kara met Aunt Anna first, but her other aunts and uncles weren’t far behind in claiming their precious niece!  Kara’s Uncle Jon timed his spring break just perfectly to come meet her.  He already has big plans for her soccer career - thinks we need to get a tiny soccer ball to keep in her crib.  Aunt Julz and Uncle Matt flew down from Colorado to meet her!  We all had a great time together - Kara even learned to play Settlers of Cataan, thanks to her Uncle Tim’s patient coaching!

After enduring one of the longest flights ever, Kara’s grandparents and uncle Tim came straight from the airport to meet her about 22 hours after she was born.

Grandparents

Thinking back over Kara’s birth, I am overwhelmed - it was indeed one of the most profound experiences of my life!  As promised by many experienced moms, just hours later, no matter how hard I tried, I could not remember what the pain felt like.  Rather the lasting memories and impressions are of the people there supporting me through the labor and each contraction, of their voices during her delivery - Anna counting for me and holding my hand even when I’m sure I was almost breaking it - she will make a wonderful PA, Aunt Janet reminding me to breathe and keeping an experienced eye on things (the rest of us were all rookies), Alissa, Megan and Kristin stopping in to check on things, walking the halls with me,  and keeping me laughing between contractions (not to mention transferring all my "luggage" to my room after Kara was born, and Kara’s grandma and grandpa calling from London through their night, and along with Aunt Kate, praying for us through the entire labor, and of course Ashish standing behind me reminding me that I could do this, and in fact was, each time doubts and pain overwhelmed me.  God was so gracious in putting together a wonderful "support team" to help and share this experience.  Kara and I are very blessed to have so many people surrounding us with love and support during her birth!

Karuna is a hindi/sanskrit word that means compassion/mercy. She will be called Karuna not only because God was compassionate and merciful to Natalie for a quick labor and giving her the ability to bear the pain of childbirth naturally, but God has been merciful to us through our entire lives.

She will go by Kara for the most part. And we pray that Kara will someday come to recognize the "Karuna" of God in her own life.