Good times with good friends & family

This past weekend brought lots of visitors to our house. Our good friends Chris and Becca came by to say hi since they were in the "neighborhood". That is, they were within 2 hours of Oakdale at a wedding and decided to come by for a BBQ. We had a great time showing them around valley Oak Ranch and Luke's clinic. We then grilled tri-tip, had corn on the cob, pasta salad and some yummy fruit salad. What a nice evening we had. It's funny, back when Luke and Chris were in vet school, we would have dinner together at least once a week. It was always a great time. This brought back some great memories and made us miss our good friends. Nothing beats sitting on the patio with good friends, good food and a cold beer. Although, this dinner was different from the others, but in a good way. Chris and Becca have two great girls and we now have Colby!

Becca and Miss Jocelyn....she is always so happy!

Eating dinner on the patio...Abby had one big piece of corn to eat!

Also visiting us this week is Luke's parents, Jack & Brenda. We have been so fortunate to have them here with us. Jack has helped Luke with some projects around the house and Brenda has been getting her grandma fix with Colby. They even baby sat one night so Luke and I could go out to dinner. Our first since Colby arrived. It has been so nice having them here and Colby certainly has enjoyed meeting his other set of grandparents.

Brenda and Colby

I had to include this picture of Rope and Colby. Rope is so sensitive and loves Colby. Colby was doing some tummy time and fell asleep. I walked into the kitchen to grab some water and Rope who was laying about 5 feet from Colby had moved to this position and layed down watching him. What a good Welsh Corgi he is!

Luke and I headed out for date night!

3 weeks old!

Colby is 3 weeks old today! He is doing great and growing. We went to see the pediatrician yesterday and he now weighs 8 lbs. 8.5 oz and has grown 1.5 inches! She said everything looks good and sounds good. Next trip will be a two months for the first round of shots.

If only they could babysit for real.....

Do we have a future model on our hands??

Hello there, Mom

First stroller ride in the "Bob"

Meet Colby our special boy

A new chapter in our lives officially began on August 19^th. At 9:17am, Colby Jackson Bass entered our world after 39 weeks of pregnancy and 22 hours of labor. He weighed 7lb 5oz and was 20 inches long. I was amazed and excited to see how much hair he was born with. It is light brown, slightly wavy (which is not surprising…most Bass family members have curly hair) and the most beautiful blue eyes thus far. What a blessing we have on our hands.

One thing that will make Colby very special to us is the journey we will take to correct his cleft lip and palate. When we were 29 weeks or so pregnant, we were alerted to the possibility that he might have “something” wrong with his upper lip area. An ultrasound was inconclusive because of his position in the uterus and his hand was in front of his face. We could have proceeded to a higher level ultrasound, however we elected not to continue since it was not something that would change our labor or delivery. Luke and I are both firm believers that everything happens for a reason and this is Gods way of giving us a special gift in the form of a challenge. We realize it will be difficult at times but we also know how much stronger our marriage and family will be after going through this experience.

Cleft lip and/or palate is a very common defect; affecting 1 in 500 births. At one week of age, Colby already had a team of doctors at the University of California San Francisco on his case. At minimum, he will have three surgeries to repair the lip, palate and a bone graft. They begin the lip surgery at 10-12 weeks of age…which is amazing to us. From there, they will repair the palate later in the first year and finally complete a bone graft by a year and a half of age. He will have continued dental work through his early years and the help of a speech pathologist to make sure he is on track. We feel very positive about his treatment and the outcome. Medicine in the 21^st century is amazing!

So for now, we have a healthy, happy (most of the time) baby boy who does all the normal baby things….eats, sleeps, poops and cries which is all we could ever ask for! Enjoy the pictures of our little prince!

Settling in at the hospital


Colby Jackson

A happy Dad, Mom and Baby

Big sister Miley checking Colby out

Hangin' out in his pimp chair

What a silly way to sleep