REND!

I didn't think we'd make it, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Tony and I will be able to attend the Rend Collective Experiment concert tomorrow night at Autumn Ridge Church! This group has really helped me to grow in my faith using their wonderful music. I could sit and listen to them all day....

I just wanted to share a song from their latest album, Campfire. This song is how I start my day every day. I absolutely love it, and I hope you do too!

Since we made it this far without the baby, pray that Baby K waits until after the concert!

38 Weeks 5 Days

Well the midwife made an incorrect prediction. It's Tuesday, and Baby K is not here yet! It was a long weekend of waiting and wondering, but I have learned that God is in control. I just need to keep myself busy and not think about it every waking second of every day!

My wonderful sister-in-law Mindy took me to an appointment today, since Tony couldn't get out of work. The midwife said that everything is still looking good. We're just waiting for the consistent 5 minute apart contractions or my water breaking. Baby was very quiet this morning, so they did some monitoring.

I sat in a small room for 30 minutes while they tested Baby's heart rate and my contractions. They did some stress testing to make sure Baby was doing just fine. It took awhile to wake Baby up, but in the end, everything looked great.

Then they took me to the sonogram area and checked amniotic fluid levels. Everything is normal.

SO, they sent me on my way. I'll be heading back next Tuesday unless Baby K is here.

To make this post a little more interesting, here are my Instagram photos for the past week:

Social media has this neat thing called Throwback Thursdays. I decided to join in this past week and posted the next 3 pictures to Instagram.

Here's Matthew, Jacque and myself at Oxbow Park.

Me looking at my new baby brother. 

Jacque, Grandma and I made a new soda concoction one year on the 4th of July. We decided to all share it! 

Tony and I tried out Wildwood Sports Bar and Grill. It's connected to the Ramada in Rochester. I'd say it was delicious. You have the option of ordering just a 1/2 sandwich, so it was perfect for me! 

Tony's co-worker made us this baby blanket; Sol was breaking it in for Baby K. 

T and I went on a double date with the Miller's on Saturday. I even did my hair and make-up for the event. It helped to pass the time while not thinking about Baby K. 

On our double date, we went to Chuck E Cheese and played Skee ball. We had a great time!

How can you not love this adorable little kitty. Sol is my snuggle kitty now! 

I was laying on my mom and dad's couch on Sunday and realized I could barely see the tips of my toes. Can you spot them? 

Luna was all up in my personal space today. She likes to sit right on top of my tummy. 

Megan had a concert at school tonight. She requested I fix up her hair. Here she is before she headed off to Bonner!

Is it time?

We had our scheduled appointment with the midwife today. We met Mary for the first time, and we both fell in love with her! She's probably been a midwife for 30+ years, so everything she told us felt like it had more weight.

I'll start my post with this: we didn't schedule an appointment for next week because she said we should be parents by the end of the weekend. WHOA! Exciting!

I'm dilated to 4cm maybe a little more. I'm now 90% effaced. Baby is sitting at Station +1.

The only thing we're waiting on is the contractions to get closer and stronger. She gave me some helpful tips to get those contractions moving. We'll see if they work for me!

I'm hoping my next update on here will be a picture with our beautiful girl or boy!

The Belly

Mindy has requested a belly picture, so here it is. I even showered for the occasion. You should feel honored!

You can't see through my shirt, but this week I have discovered those unwanted faint pink lines on my belly. Yup, stretch marks. I figured this would happen, and when Baby K dropped, they appeared!

Still contracting, so nothing new on that side of things. Today I'm cleaning the entire house, running around and doing jumping jacks. These contractions are going to be put to use!

Will is coming down from Rochester to get me, so Tony and I can stay over at Will and Amanda's tonight. With the weather we might be getting, the family convinced us to stay close by the hospital. Tony will join me when he gets off work late tonight. Will is also taking me to Young Adult Ministry. I'm sick of sitting around waiting. I need to get out and do something! Maybe that will move Baby K a little faster.

We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, so I'll be posting another update tomorrow evening.

Come on already!

Disclaimer: I may share too much info in this post, but people are interested, so I'm willing to share!

Sunday was a bit of a strange day for me. I laid around the house just feeling tired and sluggish. My braxton hicks contractions had really started to increase as well.

Monday morning I went to work as normal. During my prep, when I was finally able to sit back for a minute, I realized I was having quite regular contractions. I also thought my water broke. I called Mindy for some helpful advice, and then I called into Mayo. They set me up for a 2pm appointment to get things checked out. So, I left Austin and headed for home. Tony and I packed our bags in the car just in case.

We met with our midwife Ellen, whom I love. She confirmed that it was not my water breaking, but the start of my mucus plug (the too much info part). She also confirmed that I am about 4cm dilated and 80% effaced. Her first reaction was, "WHOA Baby's head is VERY low". I agreed...We did an ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid. Everything was looking good. Ellen said she's expecting us to have this baby within the week. She even thought that night.

Well, we were quite excited at hearing that news. Of course it would be nice for Baby to wait until the due date, but we have a healthy baby and the idea of meeting this angel was very exciting for us. We went to HuHot and then to church for a Dream Team meeting. I was still having regular contractions through all this. No activity through the night....

Tuesday I had an evaluation meeting at 7am at school. So, I hit the road at 5:45 to get there with plenty of time to prepare. Contractions were every 15 minutes, but I thought I could make it through the day. By 1pm, I was having difficulty standing and teaching through the contractions. So, I left at 2 and headed home. Tony and I laid around resting and waiting to see what would happen. The contractions moved to every 6 minutes. Then, I had that water breaking sensation yet again around 11:15. So, we hit the road and headed for Rochester.

It was confirmed that it was not my water breaking, but it was the mucus stuff again. Seriously? Why is it so hard to tell the difference?! They monitored baby and my contractions for a while and sent us on our way. They said to come back when the contractions are every 5 minutes. We made a 1am stop at Perkins to make me feel better.

I decided to stay home from work today. It is incredibly difficult to teach through contractions! Contractions have continued today. They're coming at every 7 minutes and just making me quite uncomfortable. I've been doing laundry and trying to distract myself, but boy is it ever difficult to stay calm. I sent Tony off to work for the evening, but his cell is attached to his hip.

I thought I would update the blogging world that we might have a little Knutson any day now. Let's just hope it's not during the big snow storm that's predicted to come tomorrow!

What a week...

I am really lacking on the blog posts since I started teaching at Austin. I'm sorry for all my faithful readers. I'm sure once Baby K arrives, the blogging will increase. At least the pictures on the blog will increase! Here are some pics my phone picked up over the past week or so.

Last year for Valentine's Day Tony gave me the man and woman Willow Tree Angel. This year he got me this one. How sweet. He dragged me to Hallmark the other day to pick out my favorite man/woman and baby one too.

This was my view on Valentine's night. I had so much paperwork to do, so I had to stay till it was quite dark. When I got home, Tony had a beautiful candlelit meal ready for me. I am quite a lucky girl!

We've had a few sunny winter days. Luna has been LOVING them. 

Luna also loved that I had a package the other day. Do you see Sol peaking around waiting for her turn? 

Somehow box elder bugs continue to survive at our house. Luckily, we have 2 very savvy hunters always on the lookout for them.

All I did was get up to blow my nose, and this little stinker stole my spot and my blanket! 

February 17

Today begins the day when the Baby Pool from my baby shower at Amanda's begins. I had 4 family members guess that February 17 would be Baby K's birthday. I suppose there's still time today, but I'm thinking Baby K will wait a little while longer. I think he/she wants Grandma Jayne to have her own special day. On that note, happy 89th birthday to the very sweet and loving grandma to my Tony!

I found this picture on the CD Laur made for me from my baby shower. I figured since so many people thought Baby K and Grandma Jayne would share a birthday, I should find of a picture with both of them in it. Doesn't Grandma Jayne look so tiny next to pregnant me!?

Week 36/37

Hello all! Here is a brief update on Baby K. We saw Julie, the midwife we met in Triage on Christmas day, yesterday. She was quite happy to see that Baby K was still cooking away contently. (as are we, of course!)

My vitals are great. Blood pressure right on target! Weight right on target! Woo hoo...

Baby K is also showing great vitals. Heart rate is 140bpm. This is normal, but it's on the fast range. I've heard that boys tend to have higher heart rates...Hmm...
She did not tell me the fundal height, but she said it was normal. That means right around 37cm.

Baby K is head down and ready to come see us all! Julie did an ultrasound just to be sure. We only got a peak at the top of Baby's head, but it sure is a cute head.

We're set to head in every week now until Baby K makes his/her grand entrance into our world. This is difficult working in Austin to get time off to drive back to Rochester. Oh well, it's worth it!

Our house is getting ready for Baby K. The pack n play is up and ready in our room, clothes and sheets are washed, blankets folded and bags packed! We are even pre-registered at the hospital now.

As of tomorrow, Baby K is at full term. He or She can come whenever he/she wants to! (my body says sooner rather than later) I'm okay if Baby K waits though. It'll give me a chance to really establish my classroom.

That is all for now!

Whirlwind!

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. My life has been quite busy, and I haven't had a lot of energy to spare on a blog post!

Here is an update involving pictures from my iPhone and some words to go along with them!


Here is my real live first teacher ID! I have to wear this around my neck all day every day at school. At least they only take from the shoulders up...

Yikes, it was a cold morning on my way to school. -11! Also, my car hit a milestone this past week: 200,000 miles! I wanted to take a picture but I was between Stewartville and Austin at 6:10am, so I didn't want to pull over to capture the shot. 

Tony took me to Jenpachi for a celebratory meal for my new job! I would've taken this picture before the rice was gone, but I scarfed it right up! I can't get enough lobster sauce on my fried rice! YUM! Thanks Tony! 

My first weekend as an employed teacher meant lesson plans, lesson plans and more lesson plans.....

here is my desk after some reorganizing. You should see it now, it's even better! I color coded everything. The kids think I'm a little TOO detailed....

I managed to host a jewelry party in the mix of all this. Here's my mom showing off how much free jewelry you can get as a host. I sure made out like a bandit! 

My students decided to start a recycling program at our school. I was proud of their brainstorming list. They were excited that I would be proud enough to take a picture. 

I made my first interactive Smartboard game. The kids had to tap each dice. Add the numbers they rolled and then multiply those numbers. They each had a BINGO card with multiplication facts on them. Whenever their fact was displayed, they crossed it off. The winner received a yummy Icebreaker Mint. It's funny how things like mints can motivate students...

Saturday night I headed out to Willow Hill to see Alan's lambs and spend some quality time with family. Here's Natalie and Simon. 

Somehow this got in the mix of the Willow Hill pictures. Here's my Dad with his new DU sweatshirt! Stylin! 

I didn't know where Natalie and Harvey went, but they suddenly popped out of here! BOO!

Petting Grandpa Alan's new lambs. They were quite cute! 

Last night when I was putting laundry away, Luna popped her head through my clothes. What a silly kitty! 

That's all for now! I have been pretty tired after all this hard work lately, but I'm still so glad I took this job. I love it thus far!

My Old Husband

The evening before Tony's 28th birthday, I invited my family over so they could celebrate with him. My parents, Amanda and Will and T and I enjoyed a delicious supper chosen by Tony. I made cinnamon apple pork chops, cheddar mashed potatoes, fresh rolls and peas. I DESPISE peas, so I forget to make them for Tony or even buy them so he can eat them when he wants. So, he made a special birthday request. We had cookie/brownies for dessert! Yum yum!

My dad caused some excitement at the end of our night that involved a brief visit from the First Responders and Gold Cross. Turns out he needs to hydrate a little better if he's going to be such a workout guy. It didn't help that I fed him a big salty meal, beer and we had the fireplace going full blast. Luckily, Tony and I gave him a fancy water bottle for Christmas, so he's all set to hydrate up! I know you're reading this Dad, so be sure to keep drinking water! (does this sound familiar???) I have had kidney issues in the past and my parents would nag and nag and nag me to drink more water. Now it's my turn! HA!

I did manage to take a few pictures of Tony opening the presents from my parents and myself. I forgot to take my camera out to Willow Hill for Tony's family's birthday taco dinner. So unfortunately I have no pictures to share from that fun night. We had a delicious taco bar and some great bonding through dominoes, Just Dance on the Wii and visiting.

Fleet Farm gift card from my 'rents. We both just LOVE that store. Yes, I know. I never thought I would say that!

Some new Smartwool socks, also from my 'rents. A few of Tony's are starting to thin out, so these came just in the nick of time!

Tony reading the card I gave him. 

Trying to guess what I gave him. The first gift I gave him was a box of Cosmic Brownies. We both can't get enough of them. Now he has his own box that I will try to restrain from stealing. The present he's holding, is an iPhone car charger/music player. He always steals mine out of my car, so now he has his own! They are becoming obsolete since all the new cars have iPod docks, but Amazon saved the day!

Happy birthday again to my old husband! 28 is going to be a big year for him, and I'm blessed I get to share it with him!

Here's a bit of a catch up of my insta gram photos the last few weeks.

Luna is very particular about her food. When it gets to be about half empty, she relentlessly sits by the dish and meows at me...Here's her sad begging face...

I can barely see Sol now when she curls up with Baby K. 

Our little couch kitty. She's getting so much calmer and people friendly.

My 3 "kids" warming themselves by the fire. 

Here's Natalie and Tony's birthday cake. It's my Grandma J's raspberry angel food cake dessert. 

Happy 28th T!

This shot is blurry, but Jon and Kate were rocking out to Just Dance at T's birthday gathering. 

Connor turned 9! Tony and I brought some balloons to brighten his day. He was pretty sick with a high fever all of his birthday weekend. 

At Connor's party, Meg did a fashion show for us. 

Birthday cupcake!

Meg stayed overnight with us on Connor's birthday, so he could have some special time with his parents. Sol was excited for the guest! We moved the twin mattress into our room, so Meg could sleep in there. 

We finally took down our Christmas things in the upstairs living room. Luna was not quite ready to give up the tree skirt!