The Hupps News Updates

We had dinner with some friends last night and they reminded us that it has literally been months since we have posted anything on here.  Our apologies.

I’ve attached our Christmas card and message below. Katie prepared the card and the message.

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

December is a perfect time to share our love and thankfulness for the friendships we have with each and everyone of you.

Josh and I are grateful for the small acts of service that we have benefited from as well as the opportunities we have had to serve others.  From a simple phone call coming from miles away to a huge farewell party for longtime friends, we’d like to thank you for being a part of our lives and sharing in our wonderous journey throughout this year.  We look forward to sharing 2010 with you.

Much love,

Josh, Katie, Zack and Nala

So I got a call at work today at 4:30 (the time I usually leave) and it was none other than my lovely wife, Katie, on the other end of the line.  She informed me that she was a little worried about a bruise-like spot on Zack’s tummy, and was going to take him to see the doctor today at 4:45.  I left work and went straight over to the doctor’s office (where we sat for half an hour before anyone acknowledged our existence).  The doctor, Dr. Chu, finally came in to see Zack, and after a small examination and a few probing questions, she determined that we were over-feeding our child.  

You see, he weighed 9lbs 13oz at his last visit, which was on Friday of last week and today, a mere five days later, he weighed 10lbs 4oz (after a big poop).  That’s a whole 1/2 lb nearly… in less than a week!  I wish I could do that (yes, i’m trying to put on a few pounds… and no, i do not want to take your offerings, but thank you anyways).

How did this happen?  Well, he’s been a bit fussy the last couple of days, so Katie has been feeding him every hour and a half, rather than the usual 3 hours. Oops!  We were just trying to be good parents… I mean, heck, we’ve never done this before.  But, now we know, and knowing is half the battle.

Introducing….. Zachary Oscar Hupp!

We’ve now been home from the hospital for nearly three weeks and I’m finally getting to this post, so here goes…

Katie and I went to the doctor for a normal visit on a Friday afternoon to see Katie’s progress, but what we didn’t realize is that Katie’s doctor was going to have her come back sooner than expected.  Katie was showing signs of pre-eclampsia and the doctor wanted to make sure it didn’t get worse.  

We went back that next Tuesday and Dr. Craig, Katie’s OB, gave us two options, induce that day or wait until Thursday.  We decided to wait, hoping that the symptoms would subside and we could ride it out w/o having to be induced.  Unfortunately, on our Thursday visit, the signs persisted and we went into the hospital at around 10:15am, March 12.  

After an hour’s worth of paperwork, we were set and ready to go.  That’s when the waiting began.  They had Katie on a Pitocin drip for hours and hours.  At 6:00pm Katie’s water broke, but it wasn’t until 6:00 the next morning that she was finally dilated to a 4, at which time she opted for an epidural.  That was a really long night.  After the epidural, she was finally able to get some sleep.  The waiting continued…

Katie’s parents came and visited a few times during our wait.  At 11:00, Katie’s mom came to offer me a short reprieve so I could go check up on Nala (our doggie).  I hesitantly left, but was happy to see Nala and play with her for all of 2 seconds before Katie’s mom called me and told me to hurry up and get back to the hospital.  You see, Katie had dilated to a 10 by that point and was ready to start pushing.  On my way back to the hospital I got another, more frantic, call asking me where I was at.  That’s when I started to panic.  I thought the baby may already be crowning and I had missed everything, so I tried to punch the gas, but couldn’t because there were cars EVERYWHERE!  

Turns out, I made it back with no problem and Katie hadn’t even started pushing yet… After about an hour of pushing, “baby’s” (we hadn’t decided on the name at that point) head popped out and it finally hit me that we were having a baby.  Wow!  He was covered in goop and had a true knot in his umbilical cord (which is apparently very rare and can be harmful to the baby).  One of the most fascinating parts for me was watching the placenta slide into a washbasin… bright red!

Everything went well, and we finally decided on a name after a few hours… Zachary Oscar Hupp.  It’s still weird calling him Zach… taking some getting use to that we have a child, but it’s fantastic!  We’re very happy and are really enjoying his presence.  

His official birth time was 1:43pm on Friday, March 13, 2009.  He weighed 9lb 6oz and was 21 inches long.

***This post was supposed to have been published a few days ago…

Well, we figure tonight is the last night we will be home before delivering our baby boy, so I wanted to write a post really quickly to update everyone.  We are heading to a Doctor’s appointment tomorrow morning at 9:15am where we are anticipating Dr. Craig requiring/requesting that we be admitted to the hospital to induce labor.  

At our last appointment on Tuesday morning Katie was still showing early signs of pre-eclampsia, so Dr. Craig informed us that we could either induce that day or we could wait until Thursday to see how things were shaping up with Katie’s condition.  She told us we should be prepared with our hospital bag when we came to the appointment.  We took that as a strong signal that she would want to induce in Thursday. 

We spent all day today puting finishing touches on things at home and trying our hardest to tie up loose ends to have everything ready for the baby’s homecoming.  Much thanks to Dee and Eva and the rest of the family for their kind help and generosity in assisting with our preparations.  

I spent a couple minutes recording the current state of the baby’s room before he comes home to it and life changes forever.  It’s a cute little jungle theme and very cozy and comfortable.  The video is just below.

We are very excited for the birth of our son, though also (as most first-timers are) nervous as all heck.  We are pleased that our next post will contain pictures of our son!  Until then.

Yep, that’s right.  We bought a new car.  This, I think, marks the first major purchase we have made together.  We went to Barbados last year, true, but it wasn’t nearly as expensive as was buying a new car.  

Josh and Nala

We’re really excited to have it.  We needed to get a car for Katie because she will start state disability (maternity leave) next week and will need a car to get around in, especially after the baby is born.  

From the back

We had been considering it for a while, but finally the timing was right and we got it.  It is a 2009 Saturn Aura XR.  We spoiled ourselves a little bit and went with the V6 instead of the V4… for “safety” sake… yeah.  It has black leather interior, a moon roof, blue tooth hands free built into the speaker system, and currently 3 months of XM Satellite radio and a year of OnStar free.  We really like the OnStar and XM…

Mmmm... Pretty.

The color is called Carbon Flash.  It’s a black with sparkles basically.  We’re really enjoying having it and I will be sad when I go back to driving the Jeep next week after Katie stops working and takes over the car. Oh well, I will get to drive it on the weekends and then eventually it will become mine, when we buy a new car to replace the Jeep… haha.

Side view of the car

Oh, and I got them to throw in a free mug and hat too.  haha.  They both say “Aura” on them.

A free mug!

The End.

The End... =0)

Guitar Hero: Battle of the Two-Man Band

We hosted the first ever “Guitar Hero: Battle of the Two-Man Band” on Saturday.  It was a lot of fun.  We had 4 couples that competed (including ourselves).  It was lots of fun.  We had 4 separate competitions that would determine the winner of the title of Guitar Hero Master.

The bands that competed were: 

Kyle and Bekah - The Dirty Sucios

Mel and Janay - The Bedrockers (they were dressed up like Fred and Wilma Flinstone)

Dallas and Kirsten - Creatively Constipated

Katie and myself - Boojer Dow

The competitions were:

Rockin’ Costume

Ultimate Band Name

Rocakability

and Guitar Hero Master

Guitar Hero Masters - Creatively Constipated

Creatively Constipated won the overall competition. Katie took the award for Rockability as she was doing high kicks and other crazy moves… which she paid for the next morning w/ cramps.  I guess baby didn’t like those too much. It was a fun competition.  Hopefully we’ll have another one again sometime, but we’ll have to make it bigger and better next time!

Pine Grove California

This post ought to have been done a couple weeks ago, but it’s taken me that long to upload the photos, so I’m just now writing it.  Back in mid-January, Katie and I took a day trip and went up to Pine Grove, CA.  There are actually two towns called Pine Grove in California, believe it or not, but the one I’m talking about is up in the northern part of California about an hour and a half north-west of the Bay Area.

Katie in Pine Grove!

The significance of Pine Grove is that it is where my grandparents owned a cabin.  They purchased the cabin back in the 1960’s and then built a house on it when they hit their late 60s, moving to it as a retirement home.  As a boy, I can remember going to visit them up in Pine Grove and hiking around looking for Native American artifacts with my brothers. We also would play croquet in the front of the house, but always have to chase the balls down the hill.

Grandpa and Grandma's House in Pine Grove, CA

One time, when visiting, my grandma was outside and called for me.  She pointed to the ground and asked if I had dropped my belt.  I responded, “I didn’t bring a belt grandma.”  We then realised it was a snake and she ran screaming into the house. haha.  Grandpa came out and grabbed a hoe to kill the snake, but it slithered away under the wood pile.

The cabin in Pine Grove

There were some great memories up there in Pine Grove.  My family moved up there for a few months while in transition before moving to Missouri.  We stayed in the cabin.  It was pretty small and cramped, but was rent and mortgage free… plus we were next door to grandpa and grandma.  I was in second grade at the time and attended Pine Grove Elementary School while we were there.  I can remember going to the bus stop in the snow and playing in the field by the bus stop, throwing snowballs at each other.

Pine Grove Elementary

The trip was a lot of fun and brought back lots of great memories.  The house and the cabin are still in good shape and still have a gorgeous view of the Sierras.  It’s a beautiful area for anyone who would like to visit.  We went and panned for nice rocks in Volcano, CA too while we were there.

Panning for Gold

This is Disney’s rendition of what our family looks like (or will look like as soon as our son is born).

The Hupp Family