Team Knudsen

We're baaaaaaaack! Almost...

2009-05-13T15:52:00.002-06:00

So, I sat down to update our blog, after many many moons of neglect, and found that I can't remember how to do anything on this thingy! So...very shortly there will be a new and improved Team Knudsen blog! Until then...here is an update, minus all the cute pictures and junk. :)

We are just a few weeks away from having our new addition to the family! Our due date is June 17 but we have decided to be induced on June 10 if he isn't born sooner. Which, I kinda think he will be. There aren't any complications just many contractions for many weeks. We're ready for him though, whenever he wants to come! We've decided his name will be Aaron Stephen. He and Jakob will have the same middle name, named after my Pop.

Jakob is getting really big and is extra smart these days. :) It's amazing how much he knows - seriously blows our minds! We've been telling him all about his new baby brother and he rubs my belly all the time. We're excited to see how he reacts to Aaron. Figure it could be really good or really not-so-good. He'll adjust, either way.

We've moved Jakob into his new room and figure we'll try the big-boy bed (again!didn't go so well the first time) after the baby is born. Although, I went to get him out of his crib today and he threw his leg over the rail like he was going to climb out. I guess if we find him staring at us at the foot of our bed in the middle of the night, we'll know it's time to put him in the big-boy bed!

Anyway...in a nutshell...we're doing great over here! I'm looking forward to jumping back on the blog-wagon and catching up with everyone!

Christmas 2008!

2008-12-28T19:35:00.012-07:00

We had such a great Christmas! Jen, Brett, and Austin came to town to celebrate with us, which was so much fun, AND we definitely had a white Christmas! It snowed and snowed then snowed some more. Jakob has been having a ton of fun with his new toys. We didn't think that we bought him too many until we found that it took us 3 days to open them. He'd open one then want to play with it for the rest of the day...not knowing that there was still some awesome stuff under that tree! Here are a few pictures and a video highlighting Christmas 2008! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Here is Jakob with his first car. :) It runs on sheer foot power. He's yet to figure it out and it already ran over him once. But we're hopeful that it isn't an indicator of his future driving skills.

This is the first of the presents Jakob opened. Didn't take him long to figure out that all he has to do is rip that paper off to find something fabulous to play with!

Like any true Norwegian Jakob LOVES Gjetost (it's a goat cheese from Norway. The best way I can explain how to pronounce it is "yay-toast"!). During the holidays we eat this cheese...something we look forward to. Who doesn't love cheese?!

This was the year of the Blue Patagonia Down Sweater. Daddy and Jakob were very excited to have matching down jackets! Special thanks to Grandma Knudsen for Jakob's new coat!

Since Jakob has only been alive for mere 17 months this is only his second winter. As far as winters go, this is a doozy! Here he is figuring out how to walk around in the "white stuff".

Breakfast Casserole

2008-11-30T18:17:00.002-07:00

On Thanksgiving morning we had the pleasure of hosting a breakfast and had Mom, Dad, Pat, Rachel, Ava, and (an extra great surprise!) Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Mark over! We had a great time and ate a breakfast casserole that was soooooo good...I had to share the recipe with you. If you're ever planning a breakfast for a lot of people and want to make the deliciousness the night before...here is an option for you!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Make-Ahead-Breakfast-Casserole/Detail.aspx

Enjoy!

PS - the only change I made was substituting canned mushrooms for fresh ones. Yes folks, it's that good!

Husband Tag!

2008-11-26T13:02:00.005-07:00

5 things he loves

1. his family

2. riding his bike

3. college football

4. backcountry skiing & mountain climbing

5. coffee (he's a connoisseur)

5 things on his to-do list

1. ride the Bogus Hill Climb race in under 1hr 5min

2. get top 5 in some sort of biking category so he can move up a level

3. be debt free (we're thiiiiiissss close!)

4. to take me to Hawaii (he doesn't know this is on his to-do list yet)

5. to get me a Louis Vuitton Speedy 25 (this is also something he's unaware of at this point)

5 foods he enjoys

1. ice cream

2. my red and white lasagna

3. Japanese food

4. dried fruit

5. honey bunches of oats cereal (eats it nearly every single day)

5 things you may not know about him

1. he is a very avid road biker (spandex and all!)

2. lived in his truck for a time while being a ski bum in Colorado

3. has a Masters Degree in Packaging Engineering

4. is 100% Norwegian

5. he's got a bit of an eye brow situation

5 places he's lived

1. Ridgewood, New Jersey

2. Raleigh, North Carolina

3. East Lansing, Michigan

4. Fort Collins, Colorado

5. Santa Rosa, California

5 quirky things about him

1. he hates, I repeat, hates when his feet are touched

2. after he's done washing his truck he leaves the water in the bucket in the garage...drives me nuts!

3. he has to make the bed before he gets in it at night

4. keeps magazines for years and reads them over and over

5. tracks every mile he rides on a this really intricate training program he's written for himself

Knudsen Family!

2008-11-23T14:52:00.006-07:00

I was looking through all of the 1000 pictures that we haven't taken off our camera and saw the Christmas picture we took with Erik's family while we were in North Carolina. Meet the Knudsens...

Glenn and Nancy Knudsen (aka Grandpa & Grandma)

From left to right... Uncle Joe and Aunt Lori (Lori is Erik's sister), Gpa and Gma, and you know the rest of the crew :)

We had a great trip...it's always a good time visiting Erik's family!

Oldie but Goodie!

2008-11-23T14:42:00.003-07:00

We decided to brave Toys R Us yesterday (yes it was a Saturday and yes they were having a sale...crazy, we know!). Since Jakob was practically the only kid in the store NOT throwing a fit and dripping snot out of his nose from the crying, we decided he deserved a treat. :) We got him the Pop-Pop toy! Not sure what it's really called but it's been around FOR-EV-ER! Erik and I both remember having one as a kid and couldn't resist. Jakob LOVES this toy - he's pop-popin' all over the house!

Stack 'em!

2008-11-23T14:38:00.003-07:00

Normally Jakob stacks the cup he's drinking out of inside of one other cup...but this day he beat his record!

Tympanostomy and Tubes

2008-11-17T12:31:00.002-07:00

Today was the big day...Jakob got ear tubes put in. He's had several ear infections and because he is allergic to penicillin, we were running out of options. I'll admit, I was freaked out after hearing all of the crying coming from the other kids that had just had the procedure done. But...Jakob, true to form, came through like a champ! He woke up for a split second after they handed him to me after the surgery and was a little wimpery, but then fell fast asleep. He woke up about 15 minutes later happy as a clam!

It was perfect timing for the tubes because the dr said that while she was doing the surgery she noticed that his ear drum had burst so she had to clean a bunch of stuff out. I swear Jakob must have a high tolerance from pain, we had no idea that happened!

Anywho...he's (hopefully) taking a looooooong nap (mama needs one too!) so we'll see how things go later but...we're glad its over!

Super J!

2008-11-14T15:44:00.006-07:00

This year we were in North Carolina for Halloween. We spent most of the time with Erik's family but got to take a little trip to visit our bestest friends, the McClelions that live a few hours away. So, Jakob trick-or-treated with Emma and Gracie in the little town of Faith, NC. He got the coolest cape for his 1st birthday that has a J on the back...sooooooo....he was transformed to "SUPER J" for Halloween!

Walking with Daddy

Super J to the rescue!

Very first house Jakob trick-or-treated at!

Gracie, Jakob, and Emma Kate

Jakob Walkin'!

2008-10-23T08:34:00.003-06:00

Jakob is really on the move lately! Thought I'd post a video of him in action! Plus, he looks really cute in his new winter hat. :)

Jakob's gonna be a...

2008-10-06T12:57:00.002-06:00

In case the subliminal message is a little TOO subliminal...I'll explain...yesterday the elusive magic line showed up on the pregnancy test telling us that, in deed, Team Knudsen will have another player at the beginning of June 2009! We couldn't be happier...it's such an exciting time for us! Expect many belly pics in the future...who doesn't love to look at a round pg belly!?

What's for lunch?

2008-10-06T12:51:00.003-06:00

Jakob currently has two things he loves to eat - and the other day he managed to have them both at the same time...

One Proud Mama!

2008-09-30T13:50:00.002-06:00

I am so proud of Jakob I can barely stand it! Anyone who knows him knows that his pacifier (aka "na na") has pretty much been in his mouth from birth. He just loves that thing. Well lately, he's taken to throwing everything, and I mean everything...including "na na". I've had to pull it from under gross shelves at stores, out from under dirty cars in parking lots. I even had to walk back two blocks downtown praying that I'd find it so that the car ride wouldn't be terrible on the way home.

Something came over me yesterday and I decided that it was time for "na na" to be retired. But how do you explain to a 14 month old that his beloved binky is about to not exist any more. Well...you don't. You simply put him in his crib for nap time, without the "na na", and hope for the best. I'm not going to lie...it was a long afternoon with many many tears. But last night he slept through the night with out it and just now, I put him in his crib for a nap and after a few minutes of playing with cow and pig...he put himself to sleep!!!! I am so proud of him for being able to soothe himself - makes a mama proud!

I turn my back for ONE second!

2008-09-29T14:00:00.004-06:00

We officially have to lock all of the doors to the house so that Jakob can't escape and move all breakables and edibles to higher ground so he can't get to them. Just today I discovered that he can open the dishwasher! He's getting SO big, I can barely believe it!

Happy Anniversary, Baby...got you on my miiiiind

2008-09-29T13:52:00.003-06:00

Well folks, I know most of you thought Erik and I wouldn't last...but...ha ha ha! 6 years already...geez, how time flies. Erik and I had a really fun date night on Friday for our anniversary (which was actually on Sunday) while Jakob had way too much fun at Grandmama and Grandpappy's! We went to PF Chang's and ate ourselves silly! Then we went right home to watch the Presidential Debate. Hey...some girls like jewelry...I love a good policital debate! Seriously though, Erik and I are more in love with each passing year...it's great to have a partner in life that is so perfect for you. :)

Jakob LOVES his wagon!

2008-09-22T21:38:00.003-06:00

Thanks to Aunt Jen and Uncle Brett Jakob has the best wagon of all time! He loves this thing! He fills it with stuff, empties it, rams it into the furniture, and has just figured out how to crawl in and out of it. So I'll randomly find him sitting in it. Yesterday, after his bath, he loaded his naked self and his blankie in there! He's also started throwing EVERYTHING he gets his hands on. Big things, small things, it doesn't matter. I'm waiting for the day, when he's strong enough, that I'll see the wagon flying through the air out of my peripheral vision.

Lucy McGoosey

2008-09-19T12:59:00.006-06:00

Erik and I are convinced that there isn't another dog, in the entire world, that is more patient than Lucy. We miss our beloved Cooper McGoogles so much, everyday (he was our first "child") but we are sure he wouldn't have been as understanding about the grabbing, pulling, and hitting, as Lucy is. Jakob and Lucy are sure to be the best of friends forever. It all started with the flinging of the baby food off of the highchair - Lucy was right there to catch it. They've been best buddies ever since.

How babies play...

2008-09-16T19:16:00.006-06:00

Cousin Ava came over on Saturday night to play with Jakob while Pat and Rachel went out to dinner. We kept putting Jakob and Ava in each others general vicinity hoping they'd interact. Mostly though, if they weren't stealing toys from each other, they didn't even acknowledge each others existence. Oh, except when we put them in the tub for a staged photo shoot and Jakob lost his mind causing Ava to lose HER mind...they were definitely working together on that one!

Before & After!

2008-09-13T14:55:00.004-06:00

This could be one of the greatest days of my life! Third to getting married and having Jakob, of course. :) We had the UGLIEST pond on the face of the earth in our backyard and finally the day has come to remove that eye sore! May seem like a boring post but...we can barely contain our excitement! Feast your eyes...

Before...

After...

A special thanks to the guys at Grass Monkey for helping to make our backyard less disgusting. :)

Rafiki

2008-09-09T13:34:00.004-06:00

Jakob and I went to "Rafiki - Where Friends Play" today and I let him romp around. I've been sickly the past few days so he's been getting a little restless at the house. It probably wasn't very considerate of me to take my sneezing, nose blowing self out in public...but Jakob needed some play time before we both went bonkers!

Book before bed!

2008-09-07T19:40:00.004-06:00

Jakob insisted that he have his books in his crib with him when he went to bed tonight. Right side up, upside down...either way, it's a great book! :)

Rib-fest 2008!

2008-09-01T14:15:00.004-06:00

This weekend we went to a Rib Cook-off at a park right by our house. We love us some BBQ! Jakob had a great time on "Don's mini train" with his best friend Jack - we figure it's just a small step toward roller coasters!

Should we be worried about this?

2008-08-19T13:44:00.005-06:00

These are just two of the MANY times we've found Jakob sleeping with his head shoved in the corner of the crib or with his head under his blankies. Maybe he has a third lung we don't know about!

Swimming Lessons

2008-08-19T13:37:00.002-06:00

Jakob LOVED the swimming lessons we put him in last winter. It was a mommy-and-me class so I braved the water, too! Most lessons were filled with Jakob drinking too much water and barfing in the pool...but...that's why they have chlorine, right?!

We love San Francisco!

2008-08-18T14:58:00.004-06:00

When Erik and I started dating he lived in Santa Rosa, California just north of San Francisco. When I finally moved down there we spent many weekends in the city. Such fabulous memories for us!

Baby Jakob

2008-08-18T14:03:00.001-06:00

This picture of Jakob always cracks me up! Love the "do"!