it's time for another update

here we go again with a massive photo overload.
i'm really going to try to upload one pic a day.
but i am just oh so tired and any spare time/energy is spent attempting to fluff my nest before the baby arrives [something i am not good at]

enjoy the pics!

oh that deadpan expression!
how it makes me laugh.

i love when i come home from work in the morning and find kate curled up with her blankies and books on the bathroom floor.
it's the perfect spot to lay since the heat from jank's shower warms the room up nicely.
i love that she's always excited to see me-
it makes my day.

yuma weather was a little cold these last few weeks.
i even busted out my rainboots once.
lots of comfort foods were consumed.
and lots of snuggling and hanging out in our jammies occurred.
we also got hit with a case of pink eye- thank heavens it cleared up quickly.
one day of not sleeping after a shift was enough to throw me off for a week.

that hair!
maybe someday it'll be not so crazy.
and you gotta love that jank can come home on lunch breaks and check our ears for signs of infection.
love the perks of his job.

and of course there was christmas.

we had a great time this year playing santa.

our work was rewarded christmas morning with shouts of 'a bike!' 'a basketball!' a BIG slide!!!'

why are kids so awesome?

we had the saunders family over for christmas eve dinner and i didn't take a single picture. boo.

our last- minute meal [our christmas hosts ended up getting sick and canceling] turned out delicious and perfect.

it's so nice to have friends close by.

[ty, can you make me more potatoes please??]

getting ready for church on christmas day. 

kinda loved christmas being on a sunday this year. 

also loved not having to work at all-- 

although i'll pay the price this new year's weekend with firework accidents and drunks.

yippee!!

yuma weather is starting to perk up.
the highs this week are 75-78.
my kind of perfect.
the trees are growing heavy with oranges and lemons.
and we spend our afternoons outside playing in the sunshine on the new slide.

two of my favorite presents this year-

a rubber duckie that lights up in the bath.

and super soft blankies for the baby.

both seem a bit magical to me.

and two of my favorite pics from this last week-

jank reading to kate, havyn, krew and jett [the saunders clan]

[who all sat still and actually listened... until baby jett touched kate's hair and she had a meltdown. drama. drama.]

and miss kate getting ready for school-

all i hear from her is 'i do! kate do!' 

someone is gaining her independence and it's a little sad for me.

one part of growing up that is a-ok with me is her new skill of pooping in the toilet.

we told her one day that she needed to go in the toilet and not her diaper and whaddya know?

it worked.

she's been going consistently for about 10 days now and what a joy it is to not change those poopy diapers anymore.

we're still working on the peeing in the toilet part.

jank says that his goal for the weekend is to have her fully potty-trained.

good luck my love!

and i'll conclude this novel with pics of gorgeous blue skies, happy kids running around and one adorably loud toddler yelling 'CHEESE' at me. 

apparently she thinks this face is what i'm looking for when i say 'smile'. 

ah the joys of life!

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just popping in

hope everyone had a great Christmas.

ours was wonderful [and over too quickly]

this is kate Christmas morning as we headed outside to check out what santa brought her.

someone was a little spoiled by santa this year-

i fully blame jank. 

he has no self-control when it comes to his little girl.

massively huge blog update coming shortly....

overstuffed with pics of our katers.

because, well, she's just too darn cute.

until then...

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christmas goodies that require the assistance of a 2 yr old

mom:

thanks for helping me decided which christmas treats to make.
when given the assignment of 6 dozen goodies, i was slightly overwhelmed.
add in a 2.5 yr old who loves to 'help' and i thought i was doomed.
but your suggestions were perfect and kate and i had fun baking together.

the rolo pretzels were the biggest hit.
kate loved unwrapping each rolo [and sampling a few].
the peppermint bark was super easy and kate loved smashing the candy canes.

and the chocolate mint cookies were divine [i made these after kate went to bed]

so thanks again for the help.

can't wait for you to come play in yuma with us!

links for the goodies:

peppermint bark

rolo pretzels aka 'turtles'

chocoalte mint cookies

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hey there torpedo! and other such compliments

hi baby girl,

32 weeks.
just a few more to go.
you think we could make a deal and you come no later than 39 weeks?
i'm dying to see you...
but not so excited about the labor/delivery part so maybe we'll hold off until 50 weeks?
yeah, that sounds good.

also we think we have your first name picked out but we are stumped as ever on your middle name.
a little inspiration would be appreciated.

i'm working on your nursery,
and by 'working' i mean i'm staring at images online and hoping they miraculously come to be in this here yuma house.
maybe after the holiday craziness i'll get serious about decorating.

you made me crave OJ the other day- so weird.
i usually HATE orange juice.
but it was delicious [from macdo's no less] and i just went with it because what else am i to do these days?

your big sis has started to warm up to the idea of a baby invading her space.
she calls you by name and gives kisses when she's not busy kicking you.
[sorry about the abuse, she's still learning that mama can't wrestle like dad]

you have a new cousin.
his name is steele.
i'm gigantically jealous that brother brandon and kiki get to hold and snuggle him.
he gave his mom a quick labor, how about you do the same?

ok, little one.
keep up the good work-
pack on those ounces and we'll see you soon.

love,
your mama



ps. in related news these are things that have been said to me in the last week:

::hey mama! [pretty much how anyone who doesn't know my name greets me at work- including but not limited to doc's, housekeepers, transporters, radiology techs and a few ER techs who do know my name but decide to call me mama instead.]

::you're getting fat.

::your stomach looks much bigger than last night, maybe you're bloated??


sure makes a lady feel sexy!!


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tales from yuma

how you know you live near the border:

when driving your husband to work in the morning,

[because it's extremo foggy and cold and the scooter isn't an option]

and you see the 'special forces' hummer/tank driving past with an entire team of people hanging onto it. and said people are wearing all black, have impressive-looking guns strapped onto their backs and have bullet-proof vests on.

that's when you know you live in a border town.

[but at least my zantac is only $2!]

also, when your husband reports that 18[!!!] patients 'no-showed' to their appointments yesterday and the office staff says it's due to the rain..... that's how you know you live in the desert. 

also, also, we won't even get started on a little something we like to call 'hispanic-panic' because then i'll have to spend hours telling you all about the multitude of people who clog up our ER with complaints of 'my baby woke up crying so i brought her in even though now she's perfectly fine and probably just needed to be fed' or 'i've had this pain in my arm muscle for 3 years and am too lazy/cheap to see a primary care physician about it so i'm checking into the ER because you are required by law to see me and i don't have to pay my bill' and my favorite, favorite, favorite- 'i need you guys to give my kid his immunizations and well-child exam'. 

God bless Yuma.

and God bless me with more patience because after 4 nights of that ridiculousness... i was ready to explode. and that's putting it nicely. 

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another overload of pics

and now a series of mini-letters:

dear pregnant body of mine:
we're almost there.
only 8 weeks to go.
we're doing well; gaining some weight and growing a healthy little girl.
she's measuring 2 weeks behind schedule but that's not surprising.
[i just don't think this body is engineered to make big babies]
i'll just have to keep eating cookie dough every night and drinking hot cocoa every morning while peanut watches monsters inc.

dear yuma weather:
i think i love you [now that it's not 115 degrees]
we decked the halls this past week and didn't once have to worry about mittens or boots.
our christmas tree is up and sparkly.
the palm trees outside are full of white twinkle lights.
it was wonderful to decorate outside without freezing our hands.

dear christmastime:
thanks for bringing me one of my favorite things- twinkly trees.
and for kate's favorite book right now- the night before christmas.
oh how i love snuggling her tight and reading books with her by the light of her little christmas tree.

our elf on the shelf finally came and has been named 'elfie'.
[that's what you get when you let a 2 yr old name the keepsake]
kate talks to elfie all day, every day and tells him if she's been naughty or nice-
it's hilarious to watch [i'll have to video it]
our advent calendar is finally done-
kate unwraps a christmas book each night which we read all snuggled in on her huge bed.
smelling kate's freshly washed hair and rubbing her back and face while jank reads to us is my idea of heaven.

dear kate:
i'm so glad i get to teach you important things like how to dip your french fries in your ice cream.
our lunch dates make me smile.
on the flip side, your ability to cause chaos makes me insaaaaane.
you were so proud of this mess and got mad at me when i cleaned it up.
but it did give me the opportunity to weed out some of your toys-
how did you get so many??

regardless of your actions, i love you completely.
you make me smile everyday and that is enough.

dear jank:
thanks for all you do [laundry, dishes, diapers....]
thanks for all the foot massages.
thanks for not playing racquetball tonight so we could spend time together before i have to work 4 in a row.
and thanks for taking kate on night-time scooter rides to see the christmas lights-
you are her absolute favorite person and mine too.
i love you.
thanks for loving me.

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a very spoiled little girl.

so as it happened, we ventured out into the gorgeous 70 degree weather on black friday.

[at a normal time- no 4 am stuff for the jancers].

we were on the hunt for a twin bed for peanut.

the store we visited was having a ridiculous deal on this queen and we just couldn't say no.

it was the same price as a twin and after much debating-

[i don't do spur of the moment decisions well- it took me a while to shift my thinking from twin to queen]

we bought it.

now our little peanut sleeps like a queen.

seeing her buried under pillows and blankets in that gigantic bed makes me smile.

she loves it and it sure is nice to have a place to snuggle and read books-

[the toddler bed just wasn't cutting it anymore for us]

now on to the stressful stuff like decorating her room.

where's my sister when i need her?

my head spins in circles when i think about decorating decisions.

give me a someone with a broken leg and i know what to do.

but decide on a lamp... that'll take me a year.

a long day. thank heavens it's almost over.

kate-

i don't know what they've been feeding you at school these last few days but i'm fairly certain it's been laced with speed.
your energy level is off the charts.
i'm not quite sure what to do with you or how to contain you.
all i know is that this week i am more tired than usual and every nite i just want to go to bed at 8.

today you were forced to miss your nap-
we were stuck at the car repair shop getting a oil leak fixed.
so when 5 pm [finally] rolled around, this is how i found you:

you were exhausted and content to just snooze on the couch under a pile of fluffy blankets.
and there you stayed for 90 minutes.
i should've joined you.
it sure looked lovely.


so the way i see it, we have 2 options-
1. give me some of your energy
2. get rid of speed-kate so i can rest a bit cuz this 30 weeks pregnant mama is tiiiiiiired.

let me know what you choose.
love you.


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so much to be grateful for.

our thanksgiving day looked a little something like this:

we snuggled and watched the parade

headed over to our friends' house and packed ourselves full of delicious food- 

my OB would be proud.

played some thanksgiving bingo

and of course had just a few deserts.

overall, a perfect day.

i have so much to be grateful for:

wonderful friends and loving family, an abundance of food, a patient and kind husband, a beautifully sweet daughter and a healthy baby on the way.

my cup runneth over.

and so does my exhaustion.

this pregnancy is stealing all energy from me.

it's 8:00 and i'm headed to bed.

[i should be embarrassed to say i did the same thing last night but i'm not. sometimes you just gotta give in to the exhaustion]

hope everyone had a great holiday.

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monday update

pictorial proof that my life is good:

[and some ramblings because it's monday and i only slept 4 hours- but a great 4 hours!]

i started my set schedule this past weekend- [friday, saturday and sunday nights].

what a difference it makes to finally have a schedule. 

i can already feel the sense of normalcy setting in.

monday's are going to be a little rough for me;

the turn-around from working nights is always that way.

especially now the calf cramps are becoming the norm and waking me from my blissful sleep.

grrrrr.

hate when i wake by myself and jank isn't there to stretch my calf for me.

i'm helpless without him. ridiculous but true.

of other important, ground-breaking news:
i was able to turn on christmas music today and not cringe.
i'm finally adjusting to the idea of the holidays without snow.
it definitely took awhile.
guess i'm an arizonian now.

i finally feel settled into the ER here.

my night shift crew is pretty great [although i still desperately miss my SLC crew].

we had a STEMI [heart attack for you laymen] walk in last night and we had him ready for the cath lab [where they open the blocked arteries in the heart] in 6 minutes.

that kind of speedy teamwork led to his life being saved and it's soul-stirring to think i'm a part of it.

i really do love what i do.

and finally, a short story to conclude these monday ramblings:

i mouthed off to a patient last week telling her:

"this isn't mcdonalds. you don't get to come in, place your order and be done in 5 minutes"

[in my defense, she was being particularly demanding for how busy we were]

yep, i definitely got reported to my charge nurse for that one!

my charge nurse's response? 

"kayla, when's the last time you ate? i think you need food."

this yuma crew knows me already. kayla+hunger=CRANKY.

at least i didn't get written up, although my nickname is now 'happy meal'.

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part deux

kate:

this video is for you.
it has all your favorite things-
dolphins, sharks, your dad, elmo and your painted face.
we love you little girl.
you make our lives so much fun.




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a video filmed with the 8mm app and edited in imovie. isn't technology amazing??

mom and dad-

thanks for making our weekend away possible.
jank and i think newport beach is the perfect retirement locale.
then we can visit all the time and have more incredible vacations.
but we're only thinking of you guys of course, we only want what's best for you.

love you two.
hope the MN winter isn't killing you guys.

-k

ps. can't wait for a rematch in cards. i'm blaming our horrific downfall on pregnancy brain.





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a much appreciated deviation from regular life

SoCal-

you stole my heart.
i think we found our dream location to live.
but doesn't everyone say that abut southern california??

we had a blast this weekend visiting my parents who were vacationing in newport beach.
so glad we had an excuse to get out of yuma for a few days.
we spent saturday wandering balboa island and sunday we played hard at sea world in san diego.
the greenness was a sight for sore eyes after the last few months of desert living.
it was so nice just to be together as a family- a much needed break!

more pics and videos to come.

another sick day. doesn't it seem like i'm always getting sick??

it sure seems that way to me.
i spent the better part of yesterday with my head in the toilet thanks to a nasty 24 hr flu virus.
it sucked.

thanks to katie for watching kate so i could sleep [sorry your kid had to see me puke]
and a huge thank you to jank who always steps up when i'm sick and who makes a great mommie.
and finally, a note to kate:

 

thanks for being so dang sweet yesterday.
thanks for wanting to be near me as i puked [despite my efforts otherwise] and for wanting to comfort me-
'mama hold you' may be the sweetest thing i've ever heard.
thanks for coloring for hours on end and for not jumping on me.
i love you endlessly.

i'm truly blessed to have such great family and friends who take care of me.
thanks to everyone who checked in.
today i'm doing much better- i was even able to eat.
i'm still weak and dizzy, but that'll go away as i replenish my fluids.
[let's hope i have an easy assignment at work tonite. ugh, the joys of working full-time.]

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new toy

to my new best friend [iphone 4S]-

oh boy do i love you.
thanks for all your awesome apps-
like the 8mm camera app that i used to shoot this video.
i think i'm just a tab obsessed with it.


now if only i could put you down at night and get some sleep....


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another awkward pregnancy post.

26 weeks and posting these pictures is embarrassing.

baby girl-

you're quite the mover and shaker lately.

especially in the evenings- 

it's quite entertaining to sit and watch my abdomen change shapes.

[and only a little weird. cuz let's be honest, pregnancy is a little weird isn't it?]

on monday you got me in trouble with the OB-

the last 5 weeks i didn't gain any weight despite eating like a teenager.

we have strict orders to pork up.

[should be easy with all the halloween candy and birthday cake in the kitchen]

at least you're growing even if i'm not- at least i think you are.

my scrubs are constantly falling down at work so i know my belly is getting bigger.

[drawstring pants+pregnancy= no bueno]

the OB wants to do another ultrasound in a few weeks to check on you.

i'm game with that plan- i love seeing you.

we're still struggling with the name issue.

the other day i asked kate what your name should be.

she paused for a moment and then said with conviction-

'Jesus Christ!'

ummmmm, i think not. but it was a good suggestion wasn't it?

oh man little one, i cannot wait to have you in my arms.

i want to smush my face into yours and breathe in your baby smell.

i just want to watch your daddy rock you and whisper words of love to you.

and i can't wait to see how kate responds to your presence.

love, 

your tired but happy mama.

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today it's 77 degrees- that means it's cardigan weather!

bb-

thanks for introducing us to the popcorn and drink special at good ole target.

pretty sure we get it every time we go shopping.

it's a win-win for us,

it keeps kate quiet and i'm able to follow my new instructions from the OB which are to 'never stop eating'.

i don't know if it's possible to tempt you away from your coca-cola, but you should try mixing the lemonade and the fruit punch.

it's tasty.

missing you every day.

send halloween pics of harry and liz ASAP.

and pics of the snow.

-k

for the birthday boy

hi lovie.

today while we ate lunch at five guys [on the outdoor patio. yuma weather rocks!],

i fell in love with you even more.

it was the way you talked about kate and our growing baby girl-

like they're your whole world.

hearing you talk about them with such deep love gave me goosebumps.

i have no idea how i got such a wonderful man as my husband.

but i'm certainly glad you're mine.

i love you.

happy 30th!!

yours forever,

buggie.

ps. somehow i broke peanut's closet door...whoopsies. do you think you could fix that tonight/tomorrow?

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FYI

dearest readers of this blog:
[all 6 of you]


i found myself with an excess of energy tonight.
this is quite rare for me and i wasn't quite sure what to do with myself.
i decided to plant myself in front of this here blog and play catch-up.

you will notice plenty of new posts,
[not in chronological order because i didn't have that much energy]-
they're full of grammatical errors and low-quality pictures.
no need to thank me for this.
you are all very welcome.


and i just wanted to say thanks for sticking with me during this time of insanity.
i've requested to work weekends [fridays, saturdays and sundays] in an effort to stabilize our home life.
cuz let's be honest, it's not quite working right now.
not having a schedule is killing us!
that new schedule should take effect in december so we just have to survive one more month of this silliness.
added bonus- the new schedule will keep the baby out of daycare while she's still a newborn.
[i found out i have to return to work after 6 weeks instead of the 12 weeks i was planning on. pretty sure i cried the day i heard that news. stupid new employee rules]

anywaaaaays,
thanks for all the support.
and thanks for not getting mad when i don't return texts, don't answer my phone and ignore my emails.
you guys rock.

good night and happy halloween!

obsession with spiders

dear neighbors-

it all started when you attached giant spiders to your house.

instead of being scared of them [like we expected her to be], miss kate adores your halloween decorations.

everyday before we leave for school, we have to pause and wave hello to your spiders.

same goes for when we return home-

she stands in the driveway, waves hello and shouts 'hi spiiiiiiders'.

it's pretty dang cute.

and next came the face-painting at the local pumpkin patch friday night.

when given six choices katers picked the spider-

complete with fancy glitter and spider web.

when we got home she spent 10 minutes in front of the mirror giggling at her spider.

i really should've video'd that. 

it was awesome.

[pic is of her drinking her nightly metamucil- gotta keep her regular!]

and then tonight we colored pumpkins instead of carving them [because i'm a pretty lazy mom as of late]

and you guessed it- i'm drawing a spider.

she loves it.

before kate would go to bed tonight she had to see her spider pumpkin one last time.

i'm surprised she didn't ask to sleep with it.

so neighborly neighbors who started this obsession-

thank you.

at least my kid isn't scared of spiders anymore!

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90 degrees today. and it felt great.

dear yuma,

i might despise you in the summer but right now, you rock.

i thought i would miss the autumn weather i grew up with.

the leaves changing color, the brisk air, the crunching leaves underfoot as i walked....

but it turns out i don't miss it as much as i thought i would.

having my windows and doors open all day long is lovely.

still wearing sandals and shorts feels wonderful.

and the eternal sunshine never gets old.

maybe i don't hate it here as much as i thought i did.

yuma, dare i say you're growing on me???

ps. that's kate running thru the sprinklers [i have to keep reminding myself it's almost november. it just doesn't feel like it]. it was 90 degrees and i kept asking her if she was cold. she answered me with a 'wheeeeeeeee. it's raining!' and ran back into the shooting water. guess that's my answer. 

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pics from around the house in MN

[more from MN]

harry makes a great baby shower decoration.

although i doubt that clothesline would've held him up.

he the perfect amount of chunky baby.

love this one.

tyler snuggling with his little man.

rainbow drinks from kerrianne's gender neutral baby shower.

[my bets on a girl]

parents-to-be packing up their loot.

i've never seen kate so snuggly with a male other than her dad-

she was loving on her uncle t george the entire time.

thanks ty!

aaron playing with harry while liz enjoys a time-out.

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