Total Fry Hiatus

hi·a·tus

a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process.

To say I've taken a hiatus would be laughable, because at this point I've pressed STOP on my blog.  So here is for a new beginning that's been in the 'mental' making for a couple of months :) Wish me luck!

We've moved!!! We've started new jobs!!! Life has been busy for our little family!!

This past summer I accepted a Call to teach kindergarten at a smaller parochial school back in my home state of Minnesota! We were very excited and surprised to get this position which enabled me to teach Kindergarten, which is what I've wanted to do since I student taught in kindergarten, and it allowed us to move closer to both of our families. Being near enough to our families that we can regularly participate in family events has been and continues to be a great blessing!! We've been able to attend birthday parties, football/volleyball/soccer games, and last minute get togethers which are all events we've been missing. 

Now that we've been back in the midwest for a couple months we feel somewhat settled. Somewhat being the KEY word. It's taken awhile and we're still not quite there at least we're well on our way to making the Twin Cities our new home! 

God is good! He takes care of all!

Matthew 6:25, 33-34
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Learning

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us..." 1 John 3:1

Great indeed! Vacation was amazing and relaxing and my little family is such a blessing..posts and pictures of those things soon....

Some big news in the front of our minds, (no we're not pregnant, that will have to be a blessing for a different day) Jason has asked for a peaceful leave from his staff ministry call.  Our church is no longer in a financial position to afford to pay two called workers' salaries. The terminology our synod uses in this situation is 'peaceful leave'. We have been so amazingly blessed by our church family and consider this our home. We would love to stay and continue building roots here but we also understand that God may have different plans for us. So with that I humbly ask for your prayers as we wait for some guidance from above. 

Since first learning about future of Jason's position we have both been on the look out for a local family- sustaining job. I started searching for a different job this past summer because I wanted more of a challenge from my position, plus considering the changes in Jason's job. Don't get me wrong, I loved teaching at our church's preschool but I knew that getting out of my comfort zone would be a very valuable experience for me. After a few interviews I finally accepted a position as a preschool aide, with teaching in my future, at a local Early Childhood Learning Center...amazing right?!?! Well, by the end of the first day I already wanted to quit. There were some things I noticed going on that I just wasn't comfortable with and I wasn't necessarily getting to know the preschool rooms.....so I talked with the Hubby and his very help words of advise were to try it a little longer before I make any decisions. With his support I thought, sure, why not, let's try it longer.  I have been brought to exhustation and tears from this job quite a few times since then. I'll have a terrible day but the next one won't be so bad, so far it's a predictable never-ending-cycle. 

I am learning a lot about me, about how I want to passionately teach with a purpose instead of it being 'just a job', I want to have that same passion about being a supportive wife and mother when I am home, and most importantly I know that with God leading the way I will be placed in a position where He needs me....it might not be the most enjoyable but I'm there for a reason, while I'm there. And with that strong belief I am still on the look out for a teaching job in a classroom. Where my passion for teaching will be a commonality with the other faculty! 

Until then I will trust that I am in this position for a reason and I will do my best to reflect the Son for those around me!

You may be wondering how I am posting during the day while I should be at the Center...well one of the joys of being around new children is a whole truckload of new germs, made worse by allergies and here I am at home....but even though being sick stinks being home with my amazing daughter is a HUGE blessing!

Getting Back into Life

This week life finally seems to be coming together, at least in my head. This post isn't meant to be deep and super thought provoking but rather a little reminder for me that my life, like yours, comes in tides. And the tides are something to be grateful for.

 This week is a perfect example of how life makes sense because it's 'low tide' in our house. I started the week being able to see everything I needed to accomplish...my to-do list which is a weekly, if not daily, occurrence was very clear:

• grocery shopping at Costco and Sprouts, our produce store/farmers market
• Returning library books
• Picking up C's birthday gift for his party Friday night
• Sewing two skirts *correction....attempting to sew two skirts*
• Continue running every morning 
• Starting back at the gym doing early A.M. Bootcamp 
• Play outside in the water with Kenna at least 3 days...hail has already interrupted a day
• Skype with at least 1 set of grandparents
• Continue studying for my teaching license 
• Complete and publish 1 bog post...I've been lacking a great deal in actually finishing the posts I start

I enjoy weeks like this one when everything seems clear and attainable, something i need to remember to be thankful for. Last week was a different story, it was a 'high-tide' sort of week. I knew I had my to-do list to complete and a number of other things that popped up but I couldn't seem to see everything I needed to do in a clear and organized way. I was too busy trying to get back into the swing of things from our family visiting backed immediately with camping in the mountains....It seemed like I kept forgetting what I was supposed to do until it was almost too late. 

My daily running has been just right in helping me sort through the day before it really begins. If gives me a chance to give the dog a work out and to clear my head. On my walk today, walking instead of running to try and heal a muscle issue I've been dealing with, I got to have a heart to heart with God. Bringing all of my concerns, issues and thankfulness and place them at His feet, it was an amazing way too start my day. My guess is that everyone has some activity that gives them a chance to clear their heads and have some 'me time'; if so I hope it gives you the same satisfaction and appreciation for your 'tides' in life as my running does. 

Basically a Photo Dump....Enjoy!

McKenna's personality in picture form from the last few months. Can you see a difference in this big girl?

Standing

Being silly for the camera

Matching her cousin, who wasn't too happy

Meeting Great Grandpa for the first time....not sure about her cousin H

Playing with Sophie

Bananas!

Coming for the camera

She is growing like a weed and I can't help but relish in it while I can because I feel as if she is going to be grown up in no time.

A few more pictures from Jason's birthday party. (from a few months ago...oops)

Happy Birthday Daddy

Jen and McKenna

Great friends we met while we were both pregnant

McKenna's friend C

Great friends from church

Almost everyone....see McKenna and C playing?

March

The last month has been on my mind lately, mostly for all of the fun we've had and what we get to do in the next month.

 Our amazing friends from WI, the same ones who selfless-ly moved us out to CO, came back for another visit...sort of a pit stop on their way to California ...and we got them for a total of 10 days. It was AMAZING! They are great people, who teach us everyday by their marriage, the way they parent and their great faith! They are in our lives because God knew we needed their friendship! AND they have raised 4 adorable, sweet, and smart children, one of which we have the privilege to be God parents for. So.....in a nut shell we were thrilled to have their family of 6 even though they had to deal with some trials while they were here, most involving their car not working properly in the mountains.

Then it was birthday month!! At the beginning of March, as sort of a birthday gift to myself, I finally took the plunge and cut my hair. I had been talking about it for what seemed like forever and then was able to just go and do it. It was long enough that I was able to donate 10 inches and end with a fun, easy to do bob. I reminded myself to take before and after pictures and then completely forgot once I got to the salon so check out the other pictures and you'll get a glimpse of the change.

Both Jason and I had birthdays in March and what is so great about birthday month is all of the free items you can get because it's your birthday. Coffee, dinner x2, appetizers, and ice cream!!!! Plus I was able to organize a surprise party for Jason with most of our friends here. It was a great night filled with food, people, games, and cake. Jason and I both enjoy Oreo's so for the last few years we have shared an amazing Oreo birthday cake I found on My Baking Addiction.

Oreo Birthday Cake from My Baking addiction

After the excitement of our birthdays Easter was right around the corner. This is one of my favorite times of the year. The signs of Spring are here, people are starting to get outside again and most importantly it is the time of year we focus on the sacrifice that our Lord made. This time of year is also a very busy one with Jason working at our church. It seemed like he was at church all of Holy Week in preparation for the main three services of that week. We were also able to host an Easter dinner on Sunday for some friends who weren't able to make it back to their homes. We were blessed with amazing weather so besides dinner the day involved horseshoes, corn hole and washers. McKenna was even able to spend some time playing in her sandbox which really tuckered her out.

'Family' photo with our good friend Andrew on Easter

McKenna's Easter nap

Now that Jason's work life has calmed down, Easter is the 2nd busiest week of the year for him, we are able to look forward to a few things in the near future. In April we get to fly to MN and WI where Jason has a work conference and while we are there we will get to celebrate a very important 90th birthday and spend some quality time with our family then this summer our little girl will turn 1!

Life is treating us good!

Playing in McKenna's Crabby Sandbox while Dad grills supper

Life with our Spudette

        When McKenna was sick over Christmas we were at Jason's parents house and thankfully, since we were both sick too, his mom was able to take care of her. More recently McKenna and I both were showing cold symptoms, nothing major but McKenna was eating less and sleeping more, so I called in to the doctors office and we went in later that day. Turns out I had bronchitis and McKenna had an ear infection so we were both put on amoxicillin. Since being on our medicine we are both doing much better and McKenna is back to her normal self!

Happy baby girl!

          At McKenna's appointment we got her most recent stats as a 7 month old. She weighs 19.1 lbs. (84.39%) and is 27 in. (89.84%) long. Growing like crazy and is completely healthy except for the ear infection that she is getting over. We couldn't be happier with how she is growing. Her tricks to date include:

• recognizing both mom and dad (she's done this for quite some time but it never gets old)
• eating small/simple finger foods by herself (puffs, yogurt melts, etc.) even without any teeth

No teeth but super happy to gum-up her food

• attempting to wave, usually its a full arm wave to dad when he's leaving for work. She does try to wave with just her hand...she gets the motion down but its never AT anyone :)
• still taking two amazing 2 hour naps and sleeping through the night (Babywise...read it!!!)

She usually sleeps the wrong way....her head should be on the left side of this picture :)

• still loves her jumper for the most part, not as much recently because of her ear infection
• is content and happy to sit on the floor with toys while mom reads or cooks/bakes in the kitchen (although we did have an incident because she was sitting in our kitchen.....a nose dive + a hard kitchen floor = a bloody nose...thankfully she was ok even if I wasn't

Sitting on the floor getting her sign ready to wish Grandma Kim a Happy Birthday

• 'talking' saying consonants such as da-da(her favorite), ya-ya and ma-ma , her little voice is a constant reminder of the many years we have to look forward to of her voice, God-willing, filling our home
• she has also been very vocal during church, in the sanctuary, and when we are in our church's atrium. It echos in both of those rooms, they are large with vaulted ceilings and McKenna will not stop talking when we are there
• she sits on her own, falls rarely (remember the nose dive?), for the last few weeks she has been rolling all over the place and in the last two days she has started pushing herself up on hands and knees. She isn't crawling yet just getting up and rocking somewhat but I know it's in the near future!!
• McKenna has also been joining me at the gym! We belong to a small gym and their nursery hours don't always line up with the times I am able to work out so most of the time she is sitting on the floor next to me. We are developing her love of fitness from the start :)

          Besides all of these physical milestones and achievements that McKenna has reached we are also trying to instill values, morals, and good healthy habits in her. [Some people (I've met these people in years past) would say, 'You're trying to teach a baby? You can't, they are too young to learn.' When comments are made like that I quickly have to turn off that defensive part of my brain holding all of the knowledge I gained while getting my Degree in Early Childhood Education and turn on the understanding part. While those people are wrong because of course you can and should teach young children, this idea of teaching VERY young children is newer and only recently gaining popularity.] We are helping to teach her these things by doing them ourselves. Both Jason and I know that by implementing these positive habits in our life we will be showing her and any other future children (no, there are no future children in the works right now) how to live God-pleasing lives. An example being saying prayers, every night, whether it's Jason or I are putting her to bed, we hold her hands and say a bedtime prayer. Developing that as a habit so early on in her life will stick with her later on.

         Developing a new good habit is not a strong quality of mine so I have been consciously trying to work on myself. Since my last competitive soccer season working out constantly has been difficult for me to do. I enjoy playing sports and working out with people but when I'm by myself my motivation seems to disappear...especially when I look around the house and realize how many other things I could be doing. The last few weeks I have been able to set a work out schedule and for the most part stick to it! My hope is that this will be the first of many good habits I'll develop.

       What are some good habits you've had to a)work on for yourself b)are instilling in your children?

The Holidays

*I've said this before but.....better late than never......my technology skills are severely impaired......so sorry to the few family members that are actually interested in my sporadic life


Life has been zooming past us the last few weeks...more like months. Our baby girl is almost 7 months old (Where has the time gone?!?!?), Christmas and New Years have come and gone, we had family visitors (and sickness) and took a impromptu trip back to the midwest. With everything that's been going on I feel as though we haven't spent any time at home or just as the three of us but it was all worth it.


The weekend before Christmas some of my family arrived to spend the holidays with us and do some sightseeing. While they were in CO they visited Focus on the Family, Monarch Mountain, Garden of the Gods (a family favorite) and, the highlight for my craft-minded sister, Hobby Lobby (they don't have them near where she lives in MN). Since they were only able to stay for about a week there wasn't much time for sight seeing but we were able to have plenty of family time together celebrating our Saviors birth!

My beautiful sister, her daughter and me with mine

A trip out to Stadium Bar and Grill with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and Spudette


I stole these pictures from my sister's blog (check it out here!) since I am terrible with my camera and didn't take any pictures while my family was here for Christmas.

Then we got a huge surprise after Christmas! Jason's mom wanted to fly us out to WI to be there for his family's Christmas. A few things made this even a possibility, first, our nephews were sick so they had to push the Christmas celebration back a few days, and our pastors family was going to leave to be with their family in the midwest but changed their plans.....SOOO we booked the tickets and set out to prepare for our fist flight with our Spudette. It was such a huge help that my sister, who has flown with her little one, was here as I was preparing and could help me make sure I was packing everything that we needed for flying with a baby and that the milk and formula was packed correctly.


Being so far away from our family we didn't expect to see anyone except through skype, we were so blessed to be able to see some family members in person. We also spent time on Skype....through computer or in person we were able to see almost all of our immediate family. Such an amazing Christmas!!!!


Blessings as you start 2013!

1st Thanksgiving in Colorado

Thanksgiving looked a little different for us this year being so faraway from the majority of our family. Our Thanksgiving used to typically consist of driving to different family members houses, eating a lot, spending time with with aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents (and maybe some Black Friday shopping). Instead, this year our Thanksgiving celebration looked like this: Wednesday night, Thanksgiving Eve Church Service with a pie social(so yummy!), Thursday, thanksgiving day dinner and watching football with some church friends, on Friday we were cleaning the house and prepping our food (cooked our turkey overnight) for hosting a Saturday Thanksgiving dinner, having 7 friends come over and bring wonderful additions to our meal, Sunday morning we had church/bible study and once we were all home it was nap time then for dinner and a football game we headed over to a church friends house.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was delicious!!!! We only made a few of the dishes and here they are:
The Turkey ~ We tried something new with our bird this year thanks to my mother-in-law and it was amazing! We buttered and seasoned it using: garlic salt, seasoning salt, black pepper, poultry seasoning and sage, then put it in the oven on Friday night 10pm at 300* and the Mister got up at 5am Saturday morning to take it out(LOVE HIM!). We let it cool for a few hours then took all the meat off the bone, put it in the crockpot with the juices sans the fat, until we ate around 3:30pm that afternoon. We loved doing it this way for a few reasons being 1) we didn't have to even think about our turkey because it cooked while we slept, 2) it was super easy, 3) it was amazingly tender! We will definitely be trying that recipe again!

The Ham ~ We cooked our ham the way the package said to. I know, boring, right? But it was great...I may have added extra brown sugar...LOVE the caramelization that happens! Even though it was Thanksgiving and the main event is supposed to be the turkey I am such a sucker for the ham. The Potatoes ~ We HAVE to have mashed potatoes at every holiday. I think it has something to do with growing up in meat and potato country, the Midwest. We boiled, mashed and mixed up 10lbs. of potatoes to put in the crockpot. As long as your crockpot can be set on low or warm the potatoes will stay fluffy and creamy until you're ready to eat.Peanut Butter

Cream Pie ~ I cannot even pretend to take credit for thinking up this amazingly sweet concoction. I am NOT a baked fruit person. I don't know what it is, the texture maybe? So when I was trying to think up a pie to bake for our church's pie social I googled recipes with graham or pretzel crust and came across this one. I didn't end up using it for the pie social but thought I would let my Thanksgiving guests be my guinea pigs to try it out. Everyone who tried it said it was good enough to make again. Personally, I am the worst critic of what I make, I thought The peanut butter/whipped cream mixture was a bit much which made the pie extremely sweet....not always a bad thing but can be overpowering for some people.

Our amazing friends are the ones who brought everything else to complete this feast. We had rolls, corn, green bean casserole (one of our favorite dishes!), wine, beer, dump cake, and turtle pie! It was a great first Thanksgiving in CO! (This post is very boring without the pictures, I apologize. I forgot to take pictures on Thanksgiving and I haven't been able to get our friends pictures yet to add to this post. Hopefully you have a great imagination ;)

Total Spudette

I have not devoted much time on McKenna updates for the main fact of having little time. I knew with her arrival it meant lots of visitors, different schedules for Jason and I and still attending a variety of events and practices. All of these happenings took up plenty of time and blogging wasn't a priority compared to hanging out with the cutest daughter I have! Now that she has gotten older, 4 months a week ago, her schedule is different and she takes longer naps (that post is for a different time, Babywise is AMAZING) I have more large chunks of time during the day to spend doing things around the house and blogging. So this is the start of my attempt to update you on our little girl's first 4 months.

Asleep with Dad while Mom gets her bottle ready.

McKenna's 4 month appointment went great, minus the vaccines.! It is so hard to watch your little baby in pain even when its for a good reason. She is 16lbs.(90%) and almost 25 in.(70%) long and extremely healthy which is all that matters. During our appointment McKenna started showing off for the Doctor and even grabbed her nuk out of my hand and put it in her mouth. She had never done that before, usually she can get it close but is typically sucking/chewing on the hard plastic part of the front or side but that day she finally got it! McKenna is also becoming more and more focused. She will look and watch for her nuk and especially her bottle, she definitely knows her bottle when she sees it, she also loves watching dad, mom, and Sophie (our lab mix). Sophie and McKenna were never really that interested in each other but lately McKenna can't keep her eyes off of the dog while Sophie still runs and hides every time McKenna starts to cry. 

When we got close to the 4 month mark we also started cloth diapers. This topic seems to be a difficult one for some people saying that issues with cloth diapering outweigh the benefits. Deciding to cloth diaper was a no brainer from before McKenna was here. Shortly after we got married two of our neighbors and close friends were pregnant. Both of their husbands were studying to go into the full time pastoral ministry and both cloth diapered. Now I'm not saying if your in the ministry that you have to cloth diaper, it just so happens that alot of people who are in the ministry do cloth diaper. The main reason being cost, which is true for us as well. http://www.snapsandsnails.org/blog/2011/02/25/how-much-were-really-saving/ This blog post goes into great detail, she did a TON of research, about the cost difference between disposables and cloth...about $3000 difference and that's only for 1 child. After having so many trustworthy friends using cloth and seeing how much we could save it was a no brainer for us, but I do know that it's not for everyone. So far we have 2 new bumgenius, love them, 4 second-hand fuzibunz, love them, and 6 thirsties covers with about 20 prefolds, starting to like these more. Originally I had issues with the thirsties, leaking being the main problem but I think it was due to my inexperience with cloth. After a few days and trying different folds with the cover we have been leak free :) Besides starting our cloth diapers life around here as been amazingly relaxing and simple. Fall seems to have officially started here in Colorado with cooler temperatures and we couldn't be happier to finally have Holidays just around the corner. We are looking forward to getting together with great friends to celebrate Thanksgiving and all we have been given this year and then Christmas will be here before we know it and some of our family will be with us to celebrate our Savior's birth. We can't wait!! Here are some pictures from McKenna's first few months. We love her to pieces!

3 Months

3 months and 17 days to be exact; that's how old my beautiful spudette is today and how long it's been since life has changed forever....for the best!

As amazing life has been its also been a bit chaotic lately. In the past month McKenna has traveled to and through 4 new states, met 4 of her 5 great-grand parents, saw all 6 of her grandparents again (they visited us shortly after her birth), met 4 uncles and 2 aunts, met her God-parents (Jason's brother and sister-in-law), met 3 cousins, numerous great aunts and uncles, and was able to spend quite a bit of time with the grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that visited us when she was just a few days/weeks old. In addition to that, the day after we got to MN we had to cancel our plans because I was in urgent care with a temperature of 103*, sever dehydration and pneumonia. NOT the way we intended to start our vacation! Thankfully being with family made it much easier to be sick since they all wanted to take care of us and McKenna, it was almost a relaxing time :) A HUGE thank you again to our family who took care of me!

We loved being back in the Midwest but it was definitely too short of a trip especially not knowing when we will be seeing all of the family again. During those 2 weeks we were also able to see a few good high school and college friends and all of their adorable kids. We also found quite a few future gentlemen suitors for McKenna from among our friends children, can anyone say 'arranged marriage'? Wouldn't it be great, to be able to pick an amazing, Godly spouse for your child? Anyway, that's a topic for a different day.

Finally!

I've been trying to figure out how to load pictures and I think I've finally did it...at least for now :) Enjoy!

Our first picture as a family of three!

Spud Is Here!!!! And it's a GIRL!!!!

***Just a note before you read this...#1- it's LONG, #2- it's detailled, hence the 'long' part (and possibly TMI for some; you do know you're going to be reading about labor and delivery of a baby right?), #3- it's picture less because for the life of me I cant figure out how to add pictures to a post from our iPad (I'm technologically challenged BIG TIME)


Our lives have changed a bit these last few weeks. It's hard to believe that just three days after my last post we were blessed with a baby!!!! McKenna Kimberly decided to join us a few days early, which is a completely new thing for the women in my family because everyone seems to go late, but we couldn't be happier for when she came!!!!  


McKenna's journey into this world started on Tuesday, July 3rd, when my mucus plug came out and I started having somewhat regular contractions. We still decided to take Carmen, Jason's sister who was visiting, out to a few breweries to meet some friends and try some local beer. Everything was going great until we got up to leave the first place, as we walked out this gush of fluid came out and I literally thought I peed my pants. Not exactly the best feeling especially because we were all headed downtown to another brewery for more CO beer and pool. So needless to say, once I decided that no, it wasn't my water breaking, we took a detour back to our house so I could change and grab extra clothes in case it happened again. The contractions were still there and even though they were coming semi-regularly they still weren't regular and consistant enough to make me worry. Plus they had gotten less intense than what they had been the past few weeks. So the next few days I kept a close watch on everything and really monitored how I felt just in case my body was going to give me any other clues on how close to baby time we were. 


On Friday, July 6th, my dad, step-mom and cousin arrived for the weekend. It was great to see them because it was the last time to see them before this Fall and they brought with them a glider we had purchased (which proved very useful the next day). On Saturday when I woke up everyone was still sleeping except my dad so we took our dog, Sophie, for a quick walk and came back to get ready for the day. This was the first time my cousin had been here so we were going to take her to Garden of the Gods to do some hiking and sight seeing. By the time everyone was getting up, around 9 am, I started realizing that my contractions were coming pretty frequently. I still wasn't timing them at this point but just overly paying attention and getting excited. It wasn't until around noon that I started timing them and realized that there were consistently coming between 5-6 minutes apart and lasting anywhere between 40 seconds and 1 1/2 minutes. This got me very excited but I knew I had to be patient because if I was in labor then this was just the start! 


After my contractions stayed consistant for about two hours we called into the maternity triage and asked if we should come in. The nurse said it definitely seemed like labor but not to come in until my contractions were much harder, where I couldn't talk or walk through them (those weren't exactly the encouraging words I had hoped for). So Jason and I did a few short walks up and down our street to keep me moving and try to keep Spud moving down as well. Around 9:30 Saturday night we drove over to the hospital, my contractions weren't getting closer but they were getting more intense and I wanted some confirmation that we were actually in labor. Motivation was key during my labor!!! 


Our first nurse when we got to the hospital, Shannon, was great! She hooked me up to all the monitors to check on Spud, myself, and the contractions so she would have some information to tell our doctor when she called her. After sometime she called our doctor and when they checked me I was still about 75% effaced, but I was now dilated to a 5. Our doctor was a little concerned about my blood pressure and that Spud seemed sleepy but another 20ish minutes and a cup of cranberry juice later everything seemed good and normal. Once our Dr. didn't have any more concerns she gave us  our options. Since our goal was to try for an all natural birth, with no assistance from the doctor, she  said we could go home to labor for a few more hours or get checked into the hospital and wait. Jason  was concerned that I was getting too tired so he suggested we get checked in and that I get some  medicine to help me sleep before the real intense labor started, which we did. Shannon gave me 2  doses of Fentanyl which allowed me, and Jason, to sleep for about 3 hours which was amazing and  much needed.   


When I woke up I decided that I had slept enough and was to excited to sit around any longer. I wanted to start doing something to get Spud moving, especially since when Shannon checked me I  was only dilated to a 6, almost 7. We opted first for the jacuzzi tup, I was able to sit in it and relax a  bit while Jason used the hand held sprayer to put some counter pressure on my back, back labor is no  fun but it did help to get the job done. While I was able to manage my contractions easier in the tub  they had started to get more intense so after about 40 minutes I was ready for another change. This  time, the exercise ball and walking around in our room. This enabled Jason to get a little more sleep,  the contractions weren't terrible, and me to move Spud. The ball was great and helped a ton to get my  mind off the pain, I suggest it to everyone! Around 5:30am our doctor came and checked me and I  was at a 7 but my contractions weren't getting closer so we opted for her to break my water to see if  that would get labor progressing any faster.....it did!!!! 


I never knew that contractions could be non- stop :( But the worse they got the closer we were to meeting our little one, that was the one thing I  tried to focus on and it was a huge help in getting through the labor. Walking wasn't helping much  anymore so our next nurse suggested we try the shower. There was a hand held attachment so Jason  was able to help a TON by applying counter pressure again just like in the tub. Before getting in the  shower the nurse checked and said I was dilated to 8 and when I got out and started feeling like I  should push I was at 9. The nurse got ahold of our doctor and was given the green light to let me start pushing whenever I felt I needed to. By the time our doctor got there I was dilated to 10 and the  action started. Almost immediately the room had about 3 more nurses and my bed was taken apart for delivery. Pushing is a completely new experience, unlike anything I have anything experienced  before, and near impossible to explain to someone who's never had a baby. But let me tell you...it was so incredibly worth every minute, because this amazing little blessing, a daughter, was brought into  our lives. 


The last few minutes before she came out they needed to give me some oxygen but as soon as she was born they put her on my chest. AMAZING!!!!!!! I couldn't believe she was actually here! I got to have her for a little while but then they had to take her to the warming table because she  was cold and blue and they couldn't get her to pinken up. Jason was right next to her and I was  exhausted and  thankful for just a minute to hear the doctor say that everything went great, no stitches and the   placenta came out completely. Once she was pink I got to have her again until the nurse took her and Jason to the nursery to wash her and get her footprints while my nurse helped me get ready to move to our postpartum room. 


McKenna was born at 8:39 a.m., weighing in at 7 lbs. 1 oz., 19 1/4 in. long, and her head was 13 3/4  in. We couldn't be more in awe of this miracle that God has blessed us with!

Changes: Some Bad (the Fire), Some Great (Spud)

This week has been rough! Where we live we are about 20-25 miles away from Waldo Canyon, which is currently on fire and it quickly became the worst fire in Colorado Springs history, possibly even state history. Thankfully at this point they have the fire 70% contained and people who had to evacuate their homes are slowly being let back in. Thankfully very few people were hurt in what could have been a massive tragedy for the people of western Colorado Springs. During this time Jason and I were managing the climbing tempetures by positioning fans to get air flow and keeping windows wide open; tempetures continue to be about 10* higher than usuall for this time of year. Needless to say, but we were getting extremely warm, then the smoke from the fire blew across town to the area we live. Instead of being smoked out of our house we shut all the windows with the hope it wouldn't get too warm and soon the wind would change so the smoke would be blown elsewhere. This was not the case, instead our house was usually warmer than it was outside....not ideal when your about 37 weeks pregnant. Some amazingly gracious friends from church offered their guest room, aka basement, to us for as long as we needed. It was more than wonderful to be in an air conditioned house, in a cool basement with great hosts! We couldn't have been more thankful especially since the night before we packed up to live at their house I slept about 2hrs because it was so hot in our house; 2 hrs of uncomfortable, restless sleep doesn't make for a happy momma. While staying at our friends house I had an unexpected visitor (Jason was in on the surprise) my mom!!!! She flew in for the baby shower the ladies from my church threw for me and was able to stay the weekend to help us pick up our crib. It was an amazing surprise and I was so thankful to get to visit with her and get more words of experienced wisdom (she's had 6 kids) about our upcoming adventure of labor, delivery and parenthood. We got our hopes up that Spud would have made an appearance for Grandma because of the news were getting at our prenatal appointments. (Possible TMI alert) At our 37 week appointment my body was already getting prepared for Spud. I was dilated to 2, 50% effaced and Spud was head down. At 38 weeks I was dilated to a 3, 70% effaced and Spud was still head down and positioned correctly. At our most recent visit the nurse said she could feel Spud's head so baby and mom are both getting closer to a visit to the hospital!!! Jason and I couldn't be more thrilled to know that Spud is still healthy, growing on schedule and will soon be joining us! We know that a lot will change with a new baby in the house but we couldn't be more excited to start this next chapter of our lives!

What to do when Papa Bear isn't home???

On Sunday Jason, Pastor, Andy (and old high school classmate of mine and the teacher at our WELS school here in the Springs) and a member from our church left for Nebraska where the WELS District Convention was going to be held. Which meant I had to find things to occupy myself from Sunday to Wednesday night....anything is fair game according to Jason, except going into labor (we have about 5 weeks left but the seemingly constant braxton hicks contractions leave us thinking that my body wants to have the baby soon, we'll see what's in God's plan :)  So far (it's only Tuesday morning) I have done alot of laundry-I blame it on the nesting, grocery shopping, dishes, and sitting around reading baby and parenting books. I love having downtime but it's almost more draining to find things to do than to be busy.

 But I say that last statement cautiously because last week was VBS at our church. Normally it wouldn't have been very stressful but the lady who usually teaches the crafts didn't want to run it this year but rather wanted to just help. And I have nothing against her for that because it is a big job...I came to find out. When Jason found out he still needed someone to run the crafts I thought, 'Ya know, I think I could do that. It doesn't seem that hard'. Lol Let me tell you something I learned in the last few weeks....planning, organizing, and assembling the crafts for 4 different age groups is not that easy!!! Thankfully I had some HUGE help from other ladies at church and Jason but I definitely made a mental note that next time there is a volunteer position available and I am about a month away from giving birth, ---let someone else fill it---. Even though it was a very busy, stressful week, and it sounds like I didn't like it, I really enjoyed myself because it was extremely fulfilling to be a witness to over 75 children who came to participate with our VBS and learn about their Savior's love!

Getting Ready

At this point in my life there are alot of things I need to get ready for. Getting up in the morning and getting ready for the day, dressed and preparing myself for church, trips to the store...so many minute things compared to some biggies such as getting ready for 4 days of VBS and being in charge of crafts (for the first time EVER- Yikes) or a trip out of townor the biggest one yet...having a baby.

Life, From a Few Glances

*Warning: This post is a bit odd, but if you know me at all then this should come at no surprise. :)

Life is constantly throwing us curve balls...I think that's what we get for disobeying and eating forbidden fruit. Life is usually not predictable, instead it is typically haphazard, unorganized, disheveled, crazy and always guided by the Father alone. Only He knew what the future would hold...even before the 7 days of creation, He knew. That boggles my mind completely and wholly, and yet with the faith He has mercifully granted me, I follow Him in this unknown, hectic, and sometimes scary world. (Now I am going to try and make these thoughts come full circle so you can somewhat understand where I am coming from. Please be patient with me, my writing skills and/or story-telling were never top notch....I seem to get distracted too easily.)

The last few days I have been able to experience the odd weather that the Springs gets this time of year. One day it was sunny and 85 the next was overcast, super windy with 100% chance of snow...and it did, only a few inches but still it was a crazy difference to experience especially when by early afternoon everything was melted and it was at least 70 and sunny again. The weather being as crazy and unpredictable as it was (and with as cranky as the cold weather made me) it led me to think about the blessings I have recently been given and the other situations in life that bring us to our knees in prayer. 

Back in February I was able to fly back to MN for my older sister's baby shower, a great event with amazing family and friends who were so excited to celebrate this new life coming into the world. (If you would like to read more from her perspective check it out http://www.obergsmn.blogspot.com/2012/02/rubber-duckies-everywhere.html ) Then a few days ago we received the amazing news that she finally had her beautiful little one, a daughter. And in our family she is the first grand-baby!!! A gift from God to surly be thankful for especially since my sister went through 48 hours of labor and her baby was over 10 lbs but both very healthy, doing great and are now settling into life outside the womb at home :) 

Another amazing gift was the birthday of my Grandma Dee, 89 years young! My Dad's mother is someone I have always known to be stronger than her circumstances; she had 10 children while moving around the country since my Grandpa was in the military. A woman who has been given her share of difficult times and yet continues to cling to her faith! 

We are constantly being flooded with blessings from above that most of the time we don't even see the mercy He grants us, until we hit a wall, a situation that we face where only God can help. Very recently I found out that a friend and her husband, who tried for a very long time for a baby and who is now pregnant with her first baby, were given this type of struggle to go through. She is only 19 weeks along, her cervix ruptured and she is dilated to 3. She went to a larger hospital with a NICU but was discharged after a few days with no changes. The prayer now is that their little girl can stay where she is for at least 4 more weeks while her mommy is put on very strict bed rest. Right now even the doctors say that they can't do much if their little girl comes now, but after 24 weeks there is a better chance, only God, the once who 'knit her together' in that first moment of conception has the ability in this situation. His will be done! Please pray for these three dear Christian brother and sisters as our God alone holds their future!

All of these situations, blessings and struggles show so blatantly how our Father's precious hands alone hold us and carry us through our lives, the good and difficult times. During this past Holy Week, where we use the time to refocus our eyes on the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus made for us terrible sinners, it is also a time to remember that God holds each and every one of us. He knew exactly what blessings and struggles we would encounter and how He would constantly give us strength to overcome these situations. We are never alone in life, our Father is constantly by our side.

***I found out today, by God's will alone, that our friends who were struggling with the possible birth of their very premature daughter have just started a very hard journey. Their daughter, Kora Ruth, was born early Easter Monday. She was both delivered and then baptized by her father, a few minutes later Kora went home to her Heavenly Father. Although Kora is now in the best place imaginable with no pain or suffering, please continue to keep her parents in your prayers as they are facing all of the emotions that come with a struggle that parents were never supposed to experience, the loss of their child. 

January and February

Theses months have flown by at an incredibly fast speed. Moving, adjusting to new jobs, keeping our dog Sophie out of trouble, and getting ready for our Spud has overtaken all of our time. Jason jumped right into his work at the church within days of moving here and I was presented with a job opportunity to work as a Kindergarten Aide at a nearby public elementary school. Originally Jason and I decided that I wasn't going to try to find a job but rather focus on moving in and getting Spud-ready while he focused on getting used to his new staff minister duties. But we found out very soon after moving that I needed to have some time out of the house because we realized I get more accomplished when I am busy, sad to say but that has alot to do with lack of self-discipline...I'm trying to work on that. So when this job was suggested to me I jumped on the opportunity to meet the principal, walk through the school and get a feel for what my job would entail. I was blessed to get an interview out of 40 applicants and was even more blessed to be offered the job!! My first real, adult job; very exciting!  So Monday through Friday, 8 -12 I get to hang out with my teacher and 22 kindergartners, some who can't call English their primary language - a teaching challenge for sure although my 2 1/2 years of high school Spanish is definitely being put to use :)

We have also had the opportunity to meet and hang out with the Youth Group, C.O.R.E (Collegiates On the Road to Eternity, the college age group), and the 20's/30's group at our church. The amount of groups that get together for fellowship outside of Sunday morning at church has, and continues, to amaze us! Getting to bowl, ski, play frisbee golf, eat and play games with these very eager-in-faith Christians has led to meeting friends and having great discussions.

New Life in CO

I would think that with my new found freedom of time, free from school, student teaching and portfolio, that I would have figured this blog thing out already. Like rule #1 - Post at least once a month, otherwise your news is outdated. But alas, I have yet to understand and abide by rule #1.  But I'm trying....that counts right? Anyways, life since moving to Colorado has been full of excitement. We have met so many gracious people from our new church family who have helped us tremendously! When we first moved they met us and the moving truck, by bringing meals the first few days, taking us around town and inviting us into their homes and lives. We have been very moved by their outpouring of love and joy that we are here; we couldn't be happier to be part of a church family that is so inviting to anyone that walks through the doors.

Since it has taken me so long to update our lives I'll try to recap for you all of the major happenings so far. After a great road trip from New Ulm, MN to Colorado Springs, CO three vehicles, five adults, five children(one in utero), and one dog arrived safely at our new house. We drove up to meet 9 men from FOL ready to unload the truck for us. It took us 1 1/2 days to load it but only took them about an hour to completely empty it. We were thrilled for their help. Then we walked into the kitchen to find the fridge, freezer, and the pantry stocked for us. We were absolutely floored by our welcome committee.
While my mom and our friends, Katrina and Phil and their family were still in town we were able to arrange most of the furniture, hang wall pictures, get the bedrooms settled and the kitchen ready for living in. Jason and I couldn't have moved in without all of their help, especially because I realized that the altitude made me very tired on top of being 13 weeks pregnant.

Installation Sunday was the next big day. It was great to met and greet all of the members at the cake reception following the service and also have them meet our friends and family that were able to be there. The day before Jason's mom and dad had flown in to be there for his installation which was a huge surprise considering that none of us knew they were coming. After an exciting morning we all went back home and were able to just relax before Katrina, Phil and their family had to start driving back home. The next day my mom and Jason's parents also headed home. Having everyone leave was bittersweet especially now that we're so far from our friends and family we were unsure how long it would be again before we saw them. But it was a great experience to have so many people with us who supported us in this huge new chapter of our lives, it made the transition much easier.

All of Our News

Life has been overwhelming lately...great, fabulous, awesome but overwhelming. Graduation week started off our whirlwind Christmas adventure. The night before graduation we had our rehearsal and we were told about any possible calls. Jason and I are extremely blessed to be given the opportunity to spread God's word in a new environment. The congregation at Fount of Life Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs called Jason to be the Staff Minister of Youth and Adult Discipleship. The Pastor wrote about Jason and I getting the call in his church blog if you want more details or want to check out our new church. http://www.fountoflife.com/great-news-weve-got-a-staff-minister

Between graduating, having a few family Christmas celebrations and gearing up for this change in our lives we've been trying to pack up our house. Even though we don't have much having minimal time to pack it in has presented some challenges but we have amazing friends and family members who have been a huge help to us. We begin our trek to Colorado next week with the help of my mom and friends who want to drive there with us and help us move in. Once we get there it will be non-stop moving with getting settled in our new place, getting acquainted with the area and meeting our new church family.

The day after we found out about the call I graduated…a day I thought would never come. My husband, all of our parents and some of my siblings were able to make the day truly amazing! And, I finally received my diploma in the mail, it is completely official now. The whole graduation day was jam packed with activities which included our first ultrasound and prenatal appointment. Jason and I are proud to announce that we’re expecting our first baby! Mom and baby have been very healthy and have been blessed with an easy pregnancy so far. We are about 12 weeks along, our little Spud is the size of a plum and our due date is July 12.

Our Spud at 10 weeks

With the gift of this growing new life, completing my studies and getting my degree, getting a call and getting the chance to move to Colorado AND being able to celebrate Christ’s birth with all of our families this Christmas season has been amazing. God has given us quite a few gifts this past year that have humbled us in His glory; we realize everyday how truly blessed we are!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Time Passes Quickly

I was sure it hadn't been that long since I updated our life....well I was wrong. Trying to start a blog as I started student teaching was just a bit over-my-head. At least it was a learning experience :) Student teaching has been busy with long days, short nights, lots of lesson planning, portfolio planning, graduation/call day anticipation, different children and schedules to learn, field trips to go on and Thanksgiving and Christmas to get ready for. On top of my hectic schedule Jason is working 3 jobs with an equally hectic schedule. Even with all of this craziness in our lives there is one thing we can be very grateful for, that our days at school are at the same place. We get to see each other periodically throughout the day and at lunch which is always a highlight!

With all of these things going on it is very hard to believe that graduation and call day are about 3 weeks away which puts my portfolio presentation in about 2 weeks. I need to pass my presentation as a requirement for graduation which puts more pressure on for assembling a great portfolio. I feel ready for the actually presentation because thankfully I know the professor who is reviewing my presentation, which makes the idea of talking about my knowledge of teaching and myself for 30 minutes that much easier.