Homemade Baby Food....Say What?

That's right, I have and will continue to make baby food. :)  Always been picky about food myself, I knew I would have a hard time feeding Kasen store bought baby food. I was RIGHT that jar food stunk, looked discolored and tasted far from the actual ingredients. I never actually tasted any of his jar foods, but my husband did. :)  What a good guy! The labels alone make me sick.....Turkey Sticks, macaroni beef with vegetables, need I go on?

Anyways, schools were running 2 hours late because of our 1/2 inch of snow, so I decided to make my morning productive.

So easy!

1.  Clean and chop

2.  Steam or bake

3.  puree

4.  freeze

So far I have made, apples, pear, pumpkin, sweet potato, squash, peas, green beans, and squash.

I feel like such a MOM.   

'Tis the Season

I can't believe Christmas is in 1 week! September was just here......or at least it felt that way. 

It's bittersweet! Although I like that our life hasn't drug on, I am sad that Kasen is growing up SO fast, yet happy that he is growing up.
Does that make any sense?

Anyways, I love Christmas time, but have had a hard time getting into the grove of things...Now that the house is decorated and tree is up I hope my Christmas spirit rises!

For the second year in a row now, my in-laws sell trees from their farm. It was exciting getting a tree as a family of three. 

Kasen seemed to enjoy it as well. And now that he can almost sit by himself we don't always have to be in the picture with him. :)  He is also at that point where he wants to eat EVERYTHING he touches.  

And here is the finished product....

Kasen also turned 7months!!

Can't have Christmas without a cheesy Santa picture. 

He did really well. Didn't smile for anything, but didn't cry either. 

That's it for now. 

Hopefully you'll hear form me soon! 

My News Year goal is to be more on top of posting pictures. Seems like a reasonable goal. :) 

Being home all summer has been such an amazing experience. Raising a baby isn't easy.......duh for those of you that have done so. I really wasn't prepared for the time, energy and strength it took! Now that Kasen is 3 months old and we are getting into a routine, I feel "normal" again. The months prior I honestly felt like a walking zombie. I was there, but not really there.......sorry to those of you I came across. 

9 Months

First I would like to say how thankful I was to have such a smooth sailing pregnancy. It was everything any women hopes for! 

Heres a quick look at my pregnancy. (I didn't take many photos of my belly, I KICK myself for that.)

December - 4 months 

 March - 7 months with my Grandma

 May 10th - 9 months 

My students held a mini party for my last day. 

* I know terrible job!!!!*

We did at least get some maternity pics done by an amazing friend, Dawn. Here is one of many that I loved.

Thanks, Fly a Kite Photography

Okay, before I was even pregnant I worried about labor and delivery. Too many Baby Story shows on TLC simply freaked me out. I wouldn't be able to handle the pain, I wouldn't make it to the hospital, I wouldn't know that I was in labor, I would need a c-section, I would be in labor for days, I would poop during delivery...........I could go on. 

Friday, May 11th was my last day of teaching, giving me 1 week to prepare last minute things before Kasen arrived. So I thought. Saturday, I spent all day with my mom and sister. I had so many little things to pick-up and do. We went to Costco, JoAnn's, Target and Lacey Nails and Spa. I had to get a pedicure!  Throughout the day I was a little crampy, but it wasn't frequent enough for me to think anything of it. Later that night we went to dinner with our families, that's when labor became very real. As the cramps increased I became extremely nervous. Racing through my mind was all of the labor and delivery fears I had. Last minute, Frank and I decided to go home. I needed to grab all of our bags and......... I had just eaten Mexican food and I wasn't about to deliver a burrito. So I did what a girl needed to do. Sorry, but that was one of the reasons I feared delivery, how embarrassing. :) 

As soon as we got home my contractions intensified.....literally dropping me to my knees. I made a quick phone call to the St. Peters nurse and without much of a conversation she told me to come in right away.I look back now and can't believe how calm Frank was during this entire time, I thought for sure that he would have been freaking out.

The car ride to the hospital only took about 15 minutes, but felt like an hour. I tried so hard to remember to breath, but hee-hee-hoo ended up something like he-ho-he, ahhh! From here everything went so fast. Frank raced through the emergency room pushing me in a wheelchair. I checked in very quickly giving my information in between contractions, as Frank ran back to move the car. A few minutes later I was examined and told that I was 7cm and that I needed to move to the delivery room. Alone in the delivery room with a few nurses I began to feel the urge to push, but wanted Frank, my mom and Britnee there. I also wanted some pain killers, not an elpideral, but SOMETHING!  The nurses at St. Pete's were AMAZING! They were so encouraging........telling me that I was almost there and didn't need anything. They were right. With Frank, my mom and Britnee there, I was able to deliver Kasen within 21 minutes. That's right all of my fears about labor and deliver went out the door, I checked in at 8:30pm and Kasen was born at 10:01pm. Yes, the pain was terrible and at times and I thought there is no way I can do this, but I did. Honestly, I am still amazed with myself. Never had I imagined delivering naturally.....I just didn't think I had it in me. 

Look how clean he was when he came out. 

Kasen came out with a perfectly round head. 

Kasen Sharp King  5lbs 12oz 

 

It's a . . .

It's a boy!

19 weeks and counting........

My last post I promised more pictures......here they are!

(Thanks to KARIE I was able to get an ultrasound with top of the line equipment 2 days in a row!)

Anyways......There has been so much going on! This year has already gone by way too fast.  I feel like I just started teaching! Yes they do ware me out, but I am loving everyday listening to kindergarten talk and experiencing new adventures with them. How I hate that I wont be able to finish the year out!

So, you think that I would get sick of the question "how are you feeling?"but I am not. Is that weird? It helps me to really think about how I am feeling. I am so used to just living life day to day (especially this year) and not take the time to think about me or what I need. Sounds selfish, but I think its necessary!

This whole pregnant thing is still so surreal.......besides the fact that I am gaining weight, getting a pouch, eating more, seeing the baby and feeling the baby.....to know that I am pregnant and in May our lives are going to change drastically is CRAZY!

So, I am 19 weeks now and just found out the sex of our little one!  We want to surprise some of our family on Christmas Eve, sorry I know you hate that! So stay tuned for the announcement!

 (Until the announcement, what do you think it is? I would love to know your guess!)

I would be happy either way boy/girl, but the funny thing is that I had a list of names (guess I had a feeling that it was one sex over the other) and was totally set on 2 names I thought were PERFECT.....then we found out it was really the opposite sex.(Gosh! this is hard not so spill the beans!) Go figure it would be the opposite sex of what I thought!

 Now I have to convince Frank all over with a new batch of names I have found. I say convince in a good way....I tend to lean towards the unique/borderline/different (weird) names. :)

I would like to hope that once our little one arrives I will be posting all the time, not sure how that will work out, but I will do my best.

About Time!

Despite that I am extremely overdue on my posts, I am going to dive straight into some very exciting events that happened.

October 15th we headed to Oregon with our best friends on a trip that was sure to start a new journey for them. The trip was great, beautiful drive and amazing conversations! The best part was that Britnee had no idea what was to come.

 I could hardly wait to see the look on Britnee's face as Greg dropped to one knee. She was definitely surprised! 

 

Oh, and filled with lots of questions....

 

The following day we enjoyed our time at the beach

 

and dinner!

Super excited that Britnee and Greg have decided to get married in St Lucia, January 21st! Reception will be amazing when they come back.
Love you guys!

On another note, Frank and I are thrilled to be adding a little addition to our family. 

The looks on our mothers faces were priceless as they unrolled the tissue paper and  discovered a positive pregnancy test!
More pictures to come!