28 Weeks

Here is the 28 week BUMPdate: 1/29/14 -

The side-by-side from last week:

Kamdyn is about the size of a large eggplant:

She weighs about 2 1/4 lbs and is 15 inches long.  Her little eyes have lashes now and she's able to blink them because she's now able to see light and dark!  She's in the business of fat collection as all of her limbs and parts are present, she's just filling out for the next 11 weeks.  Her bone marrow is now producing lots of blood cells and her adrenal gland is beginning to produce hormones.

She only has to cook for another 75 days!  SO excited!

Have a great day, Friends -

#K-Everday - Week 3

Time is going by so quickly!  It seems like I blinked my eye and it was Friday this week!  I'm not complaining…but it's still crazy.

We had an unexpected mid-week break yesterday with another day of bitterly cold temperatures.  While I enjoyed my sleeping in and crossing things off my to-do list - I really am not interested in going to school until June.  Oh well - such is life.  :)

Here is my week 3 in review:


Day 17:

A little TGIF selfie.  Last week was long!

Day 18:

Happy 6th Birthday, Maicey!

Day 19:

Kamdyn's library is growing.  :)

Day 20:

My renewed teaching license - 5 more years without continuing ed!  YIPPEE!

Day 21:

My sister's 30th Birthday!

Day 22:

The snow drift outside my window is so ridiculous.  But pretty, nonetheless.  :)

Day 23:

Another unexpected day at home due to weather = cleaning out and organizing baby stuff.  I'm happy with the progress!

That's it for Week 3, friends!

Have a great weekend -

27 Weeks

Here is the 27 Week BUMPdate:

And the side-by-side from last week:

I feel like that is quite the growth spurt this week!  Crazy!

This week she is about the size of a head of cauliflower

She is almost 2 pounds and about 14.5 inches with her legs stretched out.  Her lungs are capable of breathing air and her brain stem is capable of regulating rhythmic breathing and her basal body temperature.  She is sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and still sucking her darn thumb.  :)

In other {non-baby} news - our school district is having our THIRD weather cancellation day this winter.  I am so over it already.  Oh well - nothing I can do about it.  I guess I'll use today to get things done around home.

Enjoy your day!

{another} Birthday?!

In case you all haven't figured it out, January is BRUTAL in our family for birthdays.  I mean this is 3 in one week!  You'll be happy to know that we now have a little over a week off until another birthday!

This is my 'might-as-well' be niece, Emma.  Her mom was my dance teacher growing up, but has become more like my older sister.  When Emma was born in 2003, we decided that she might as well call me "Aunt Katie" and we haven't ever looked back!  She was born when I was a sophomore in college and I remember spending my afternoons off from class rocking her, playing with her, and feeding her popsicles at my dorm even though her mom said "no".  *hee hee*  

(I'm certain she will be paying me back for that when she babysits Kamdyn)

Emma's mom introduced Kevin and I to each other - which has turned out to be a huge blessing for Emma and Kaitlyn because they are forever friends.  They can literally play for hours on end and we often hear them giggling together from the basement while we adults are upstairs chatting.

She is the perfect combination of smart and sassy and I love her SO much!

Happy Birthday, Boo!  :)

Love,

Happy 30th, Kim!

Dear Kim,

I love birthday's for lots of reasons, but mostly because I love being able to celebrate the people I love.  So today, I'm celebrating YOU.

Thank you for loving me when I'm at less than my best.  Thank you for forcing me to let go and laugh sometimes.  Thank you for never letting me be alone.  Thank you for shaving the skin off my leg when we were little.  Thank you for making sure I don't take myself too seriously.  Thank you for listening while I vent.  Thank you for Sam & Maicey.  Thank you for being such a role model to so many students at PVP and ATB.  Thank you for crying with me as I was trying to get pregnant.  Thank you for covering for me.  Thank you for keeping my secrets.  Thank you for being the "dad" to me as the "mom".  Thank you for never letting me give up on being a mom.  Thank you for loving Kaitlyn as though you've known her forever.  Thank you for never compromising when you truly believe something is right.  Thank you for calling me out when I'm wrong.  But most of all, thank you for being YOU. 

Thank you for being my baby sister, my confidante, my roommate, my partner in crime, my biggest critic, my loudest cheerleader, my co-coach, and my very best friend.  This world - and certainly MY world - are far better places for having you in them.

I hope this day is filled with all the people and things you love.

Happy Birthday -

Love,

Happy 6th Birthday, Maicey

I love you to the moon and back one million and one times.  

Now stop growing up.

Love you,

Tante

K Everyday - Week 2

What a week it's been!  I am really loving taking a minute each day to document my year!  I've already enjoyed looking back through my photos from the past 16 days and seeing all the fun experiences I've had and I can only imagine how much I will love looking back on all 365 days of this remarkable year.  :)

Anyway, here we go….





Day 10:

This was my view all weekend since Julie & her family were in town for my baby shower.  :)  Day 10 is also the first day I felt my daughter move.  So incredible.

Day 11:

My family and friend baby shower was one of the happiest days I can remember.  It was filled with people I love all celebrating Kamdyn - what an incredible night!

Day 12:

This is the aftermath of said shower.  The amount of things we carried into this room is insane.  And we are SO, SO, SO thankful for everyone's love.  We are pretty ready to bring a baby home after that shower.  :)

Day 13:

This is my favorite gift ever.  A K for all the K's in my life; 2 for my two girls, a mom heart, the blue stone is Kaitlyn's birthstone, and an angel wing for Julie - my angel on Earth.  I'm waiting to add Kamdyn's birthstone and then it will be complete.  :)

Day 14:

At a basketball game with my favorite high school girls.  I love them so much.

Day 15:

I have the greatest husband.  He agreed to drive me all over town returning multiples and using gift cards on baby stuff.  And he even had fun doing it.  He's the best.

Day 16:

The obsession I have with bows for Kamdyn is evidently out of control.  I didn't realize it until I put them all in one place.  I can't wait to put them on her head.  Every.Single.Day.  :)

Week two is in the books, people.
Happy Friday -

26 Weeks

Here is the 26 Week BUMPdate: 1/15/14 -

And side-by-side:

I am still flying pretty high from getting to spend lots of time with Julie and her family as well as most of my family this weekend for my family shower.  More on that in a bit.  :)

She is about the size of a scallion this week:

She is 14 inches from head to heel and about 1 2/3 lbs.  And the biggest news of this week is that she can finally SEE!  Her eyelids have been fused shut until now, but she is finally able to open them.  In addition, she has recently developed the ability to move her head around, her hair is growing in and she has toenails that are developed.

Alright, back to this weekend.  It was seriously SO wonderful.  All of my favorite people packed into one weekend.  I felt so blessed and just really savored every single moment with the people I love.  In addition, we were literally SHOWERED with generous gifts from the people who love us.  We are pretty close to officially having all the "stuff" we need to bring a baby into our house.  I'm certain we will think of small things here and there - but the big stuff is accounted for.  That's a huge relief!

Alright, here's a little photo dump from the weekend.  :)

Friday night we had a great time having Happy Joe's pizza.  Maicey was SUPER excited to see these two pretty ladies!  Genevieve & Gianna weren't quite sure how excited they were to see her.  What they were excited about was the pizza. They weren't messing around with that pizza.

I wish I had a better picture of his reaction when they came out singing and honking a loud horn to sing him Happy Birthday.  We had a great time celebrating with him this weekend and I am so thankful that he sacrificed a relaxing birthday at home to be with our family.  :)

She's the best.  For real.  THE.BEST.

These are my work friends - I adore them so much.

And cousins from Minnesota.  We grew up really, really close and it's so fun now as adults to get our children together and catch up with each other.  I am so thankful they made the drive - it was a highlight of my weekend.

And of course, this lady.  It was really, really hard to let her leave this time.  I love spending time with her and her family.  I love watching her interact with my family and friends.  I just love her.  For more reasons than that she has my baby in her belly.  :)

Alright, that's it for today friends.
Happy Thursday -

#K-Everyday - Week 1

Hello regular blogging.  Long time, no see.  Glad to be back.  :)

This week has been really short because we had two snow days, so although this week just began, it's finally Friday.  I kind of forgot how much energy it takes to teach for a full day.  Wow, I've been tired this week.

Those of you following me on Instagram know that I've decided that I want to document 2014 with one picture per day.  It's no secret that 2014 is going to be a huge year for our family and I want to remember all the small days as well as the really big days.  I'm planning to re-cap the previous week with a little picture update once per week, so here we go.

Day 1:

Maicey and I snuggling on New Year's Day watching our Hawkeyes.  It was a really unfortunate set of circumstances for my Hawks with possibly the worst officiating I've ever seen - but I'm over it.  On to next year.

Day 2:

Christmas decorations coming down are not nearly as fun as Christmas decorations going up.  That's all I have to say about that.

Day 3:

Baby shopping with my best friend who is due with her baby girl a few weeks before Kamdyn is due.

Day 4:

I was getting ready to go back to work - but joke was on me…another snow day.  :)

Day 5:

I made twice-baked cheddar and ham potatoes - we have a resolution in our house to cook more and eat out less.  So far, so good.  :)

Day 6:

This is the coldest day I can remember, it was -35 degrees outside with the windchill.  Ridiculous.

Day 7:

My favorite blanket and the Biggest Loser.  What an awesome way to spend a bitterly cold night on the eve of my return to work.  :)

Day 8:

Back to work.  It was so good to see my kiddos and my sweet student teacher made these adorable goodie bags for everyone.  It was a great day.  :)

Day 9:

I am so excited to see this lady tomorrow!!  :)

That's it for the first week of K-everyday 2014.  :)

Enjoy your Friday -