Baby Brayden's 1st Week

Brayden Harter Knetzer was born at 12:40 AM on October 17, 2008 weighing 8 lb. 8 oz.

Personal down time is a rarity these days....I'll write about everything soon, I promise!

spelling & grammar disclaimer:

for some reason i decided to take a walk down memory lane and read my past bloggings. HOLY CRAP!!! my grammar and spelling are atrocious!! i'm pretty sure a first grader would be able to type with less errors. as sad as it may be, it's true....i'm a horrible speller. thank goodness for spell check...that is when i actually use it.

now in my defense, my brain has officially been on vacation for almost 10 months. i've become as dumb as a brick. i remember a lady i used to work with who said that she couldn't do her job because her brain did not communicate properly with her fingers in order to type correctly. oh, how foolish i was to laugh at the poor woman! i just told jared the other night that i truly have become a disgrace as i reread my emails before i send them off to clients...only to find that i type actual words but they do not pertain or have any relevance to what i intended to say.

really what i'm trying to say is i apologize for my never failing spelling and grammatical errors. If you are a elementary teacher, i hope i have not been your daily source for teaching material....you know, those sentences your teacher would write on the board and you had to find all the errors and write the sentence correctly......

oh, how i have regressed......

just shoot me now!

i don't know what in all of god's creation is going on, but my ankles and feet look like they've been beat with a sledge hammer! i actually have creases from the skin that is hanging over my feet!!! I've learned that when you are pregnant, certain body parts tend to disappear. if you never had the pleasure of experiencing kankles before, don't gloat in thinking you never will. trust me, i know from experience! all I have to say is thank goodness i only have 3 more days!

there's a full moon tonight and i'm going back out to walk my 11th mile for the day....hopefully these feet can carry me!

precious moments

one thing i look most forward to is having my good friend genya of vue photography take pictures of our new little one and family when brayden arrives! i can't wait!!!! ahhh!

In our doctor's office i kept seeing these precious pictures and finally decided to pick up pure 7 studio's business card. so cute!! I went to their blog and laughed when i saw these precious pictures!

i might just have to snag this idea now that i have my very own peanut sling! i love this!

how hysterical is this picture?!

i have to say though, i'm still very much partial to genya's vue! but now i just have another photographer to use for weddings....since genya is always booked!

lets get this show on the road!

for 3 days now i have been have irregular contractions...until tonight. around 9:30 they began to be 4 minutes apart....and still continue to be 4 minutes apart. groveling and debating whether or not to call the doctor, i finally decided to after 3 hours of non-stop contractions. the nurse informed me thanow all i have to do is wait the consistent sharp pains to where i can barely breathe through them.....which i'm pretty sure are beginning to make an appearance. let's just say that if this is only the beginning, i'm afraid to find out what the middle and end have in store!

time will tell.....only i'm tired and wish it wasn't 1am!



yep....barely breathing! OUCH!

let them buy gas!

i now can say that it excites me to purchase gas! gas has dropped below $3.00/gallon. it's a miracle! i'm slightly shocked that such words would ever come from my mouth! i remember strongly stating that i would resort to riding a bike if gas ever reached $3.00/gallon. sad to say i was still driving around my suv when gas hit $4.00 a gallon. all i can say is i'm a prisoner to the convenience of air conditioning...especially these days! what a sorry sight it would be to see a hot, sweaty, pregnant woman peddling her little heart out in 95 degree weather down back beach.

at least there's something to be excited over with the state that the economy is in. so much for my stock in mcdonald's.....i guess i should have pulled all 10 of my shares 10 years ago. eh, i'm not stressed.....$600.00 is nothing compared to $600,000.00.

baby update: no baby yet.

beaches and bellies

with all the constant, never ending contractions i continue to have, I've been hoping that all the walks jared and i take would start to have an effect. my body is becoming so worn out that i'm beginning to become concerned about my mental stability.

with the beautiful weather we've been having the past 2 nights, jared and i have gone to the beach. i really do love it here this time of year! last night all our long walks did were cause more contractions that ended up being the bridge to no where....hence my writing at such an ungodly hour in the morning. i just couldn't take laying in bed any longer! we have a doctors appointment today and these contractions better not have all been in vain....there better be something going on!

being that i have been quite the slacker when it comes to documenting those monumental "belly shots," i suppose i am trying to make up for lost time now. nothing like having your picture taken at 9 1/2 months pregnant (i had to go and get a new drivers licence on friday.........no comment needed).

a well done turkey

"Beginning somewhere around the middle to end of your second trimester, your enlarging uterus swells enough to push your abdomen forward, making your navel pop out like a timer on a well-done turkey." - www.whattoexpect.comas insulting and scary as this may be, i have managed to make it 3 extra months without this happening....until now. it's true. i now look like a well done turkey who's timer as popped. accepting this realization required a long moment of silence....

i must look as though this baby is going to arrive any second. since it is such a beautiful day, i headed to my favorite work place, panera, as you all know. after sitting outside and working for a couple hours, i decided to take a walk around pier park and then head over to target to get a birthday present for one of the little girls i used to nanny.

timeout just for a moment....
kamryn is now 8 and in the 3rd grade. i called her mom to find out what she wanted for her birthday and much to my surprise i ended up getting her the jonas brothers cd since she already had the camp rock cd. since when did kamryn stop watching sponge bob and signing songs from the wiggles?! this growing up thing is going to be quite a struggle for me i 'm afarid!

anyways, walking around i had 5 people make comments about how i looked like i was ready to have this baby any day. perhaps the slow waddle and over sized belly gave it away. granted, i didn't take the time to get ready this morning. i look like a homely, unwed, knocked up woman. quite frankly, i don't care what i look like anymore! yesterday my feet were purple and i had kankles! these changes that i can so gratefully attribute to being pregnant are starting to freak me out! i just want to wear my normal skinny clothes again! i learned today, that when you are 9 months pregnant with ridiculously swollen feet, you are only torturing yourself when you walk through the doors of a shoe store. don't do it! i have a gap gift card and ended up having to use great restraint to just hold off a couple more weeks so that i can buy somewhat normal clothes again. thank goodness God has shown his mercy on me in the sense that i have not put on that much weight. perhaps with all this walking jared and i have been doing, i'll be in skinny clothes in no time.....
i'm trying not to get my hopes up. only 16 more days!

hang on tight!

it is officially october and i don't think i could have asked for a more perfect fall october day! as much as i miss not being home this time of year with all the leaves changing colors, it is always beautiful here in florida. all it takes is the scent of a lit pumpkin spice candle to remind me of home....hence the 5 candles and febreeze plug ins that are all over my house right now!

the past 2 weeks have been rather eventful! last wednesday began all the baby shower festivities that last through this past sunday. to say I am truly blessed is an understatement! God has put so many wonderful and special people in my life who i love dearly! jared and i are well stocked and ready for brayden's grand arrival thanks to all our friends and family! once i have pictures to post, i'll put them up.

speaking of brayden's arrival, i have exciting news! today jared and i had our weekly appointment at sacred heart hospital in destin only to find out that dr. graham is going to be on vacation the week of my due date. now, most people would probably be freaked out in such a situation. i on the other hand laughed and couldn't be happier for two reasons:

Reason for my laughter: my best friend jessica (i've been waiting to have an entire post dedicated to her which will be soon) sees the same doctor as i do. jessica is a little more cautious and nervous about being pregnant and her delivery than i have been....or at least she is a little more vocal about it. at jessica's first appointment, she might as well have made dr. graham sign in blood that she would not be out of town the entire month of her due date. i wouldn't put it past jessica to find ways to induce or stall, whichever it may be, mccabe's delivery in order to see to it that dr. graham delivers her first born! go figure dr. graham be on vacation the week of my delivery....maybe having her sign in blood wasn't such a bad idea!

Reason for my happiness: forget that whole signing in blood nonsense! due to dr. graham being out of town, she has scheduled for me to be induced on October 18th, unless brayden decides to arrive sooner. the end is now officially in sight! so at this rate, i will be holding my precious baby boy in 17 days or less!

i must say, at times it feels like i have been a miserable, swollen, waddling whale for 2 years and other times it feel like the clock is running faster than my swollen feet carry me! does anyone even remember september? i'll keep you all posted. in the meantime, forgive me as i say goodbye. pineapple, herbal tea's, and long walks (i think i'll pass on the caster oil!) are screaming my name!