bedtime is the most favorite time.

bedtime means 'one-two-three' and then a gentle toss into the crib followed by lots of giggles.
then there's a bottle to drink and one last snuggle to have.
off goes the light and on goes the fan and the door shuts quietly.
one down, one to go.

why is bedtime the sweetest and yet the most awful?
nothing sounds more dreamy than moms and dads snuggled in bed with their little kidlets,
reading stories, sharing giggles and enjoying the quiet time.

but the reality is not so picture-perfect.
it's the end of the day, everyone's tired.

there's a lot of:
'pick up those toys, i'm not going to ask again'
and
'go brush your teeth. you know the routine. it's the same every night'
and
'kate, for the love! quit putting your princess dress back on!'

but then the pj's get put on, the teeth get brushed and we gather for our little family prayer.
and then some of that dreaminess drifts in.
we bow our heads and listen to kate's simple prayer.
....'thank thee that mommy and daddy could play with me. thank thee that evelyn could poop and feel better. please bless to sleep well'....

and then i read one book and jank tells one story and there's kisses and hugs and  'i love you's'.
off goes the light and on goes the fan and the door shuts quietly.

2 pictures, 6 words. [it's all i could muster:: i worked last night]

evie rue:

the toothbrush.

your favorite.

the game that occupy our days

kate:

today we played 'captain hook and pirate princess'.

it consists of captain hook [me] squatting on his pirate ship [the ottoman]; looking through my telescope [cupped hands], trying to spot the pirate princess [you].

you dance and twirl in the kitchen until i find you and then with a hearty pirate growl,

i leap off the ottoman and a chase ensues.

the evil captain hook tries to steal the pirate princess's golden crown. 

captain hook can run easily on the carpet but must slip and slide and almost fall down if he runs on the tile [and i've almost really fallen down many, many times. klutzy me]

once the captain obtains the crown, he hides it and the princess must find it before 

the game can start all over again. and again. 

and again. 

and again.

[sooooo much fun after the tenth round]

see you tomorrow pirate princess.

love,

mom

i tip my hat to all the single parents.

dear jank:

well, we survived.
a whole weekend with just me and the girlies while you abandoned us for a golf tournament with jack.
sorry you guys got rained out the first day,
but super excited that you were only 2 feet from Tiger and that you got to see great golf
[although i'm still not convinced there is anything 'great' about watching golf]

this weekend was a little rough.
evie is cutting her top two teeth and has a cold to boot.
so sleeping wasn't her thing.
she was up from 0130 to 0500 last night.
it wasn't awesome, let's just leave it at that.

we missed you in nursery at church today.
evie was fussy [from lack of sleep/teething] and wanted to be held the entire time;
along with delsie, jaydian, jett and cianni.
my lap just wasn't big enough for them all.

kate watched more movies than i care to admit to,
but that's just how it goes sometimes.
pretty sure she's no worse off because of it.
ps, is it normal for her to have every line of the tinkerbell movie memorized??


tonight we hung up some streamers, lit some candles, blew up some balloons and had tyrel and the kids over for dinner.
we called it the 'daddy's left for the weekend and mommy's didn't kill any kids' celebration.
hallelujah.

so glad you're on your way home right now.
that means i can sleep in peace and take down the barricades i've built by the exterior doors.
[let's be honest, you all know i'm a wee bit anxious so building barricades shouldn't surprise you]

see you soon, my love.

------

[i'm starting to wonder why i even buy kate clothes since 

the only thing she ever wears is that princess dress]

another video.

i know, i know.
another video of evie jumping?
please.
but here's the thing-
evie is pretty awesome and that jumper thingy rocks.
enough said.
enjoy another video of my mexican jumping bean:





also, if anyone ever has the opportunity to buy this type of jumper,
'E and I's Bungee Baby Bouncer',
buy twelve of them and send them to me.
because i desperately want one for myself and they would make great baby shower gifts.

thanks!

spring has sprung

dear neighbors on our left:

sorry we still don't know your names.
you do seem like quite nice people.
we should probably bring you cookies sometime and officially meet you
[18 months post-move in isn't too late, right??]

your beautiful citrus trees make me so happy when i look out our kitchen windows.
i love seeing the bright colors and watching the sun filter through the leaves.

everyday i am grateful for our gorgeous spring weather.
[before too long summer will be here and we'll all go back into hibernation]

thanks for letting us steal some oranges.

they are delicious.

ps. sorry for the many times we've thrown a ball into your yard. my kid [and husband] don't always have the best aim.

our mexican jumping bean

tyrel:

thanks for letting us borrow your jumper.
safe to say evelyn loves it.

happy MLK Jr Day.

i had a dream....

...that someday i would have a cute little family of my own and i would love them and they love me.
we would ride bikes and play in the sunshine together.
i would be a better person because of them.

somedays i truly live that dream [that would be today].

while other days [let's say.... thursday of last week] i'm so absolutely fed up with being my kids' everything, that all i can do at five o'clock in the afternoon is buckle them both into the car and drive as far as my gas tank would allowed into the barren desert, all the while praying they remain quiet so i can have a few moments of peace.


thank heavens for more good days than bad.

conversations with kate

kate,

you say so many awesome and funny things right now, they must be documented so we can torture you with these memories later on. so let's carry on with the silliness that comes out of your mouth:

me:    kate! stop sucking your finger.
kate:  ok, but can i suck my flumb [thumb]?
me:    no. don't suck anything. it's gross.
kate:  but mooooom! when i suck my finger it helps the nilk [milk] to go down.


love you kater-bug.
let's go get some mcdonalds when evie wakes up. we both know we love those nuggets.

IG dump and my NY resolution

i was up until 1230 last night attempting to fix my imac.

it's 5 years old and i fear it's time with us is drawing to a close.

but not yet! please not yet. 

i still love thee faithful and trusty [and beautiful] imac.

i've been having issues with it running at the speed of molasses.

if i try to edit pictures and use the internet, it comes to a screeching halt.

tres annoying.

so i tried some things last night and when i wasn't getting the response i hoped, 

i set up an appt with applecare for 6:15 am.

and that right there shows you how much i love my computer.

i don't wake up happily for anything or anyone [unless it involves a nutella waffles and/or shopping]

especially when i have to work that same night.

the techies at apple were able to walk me through some different things and so far, so good.

hopefully the small changes i made will by me some more time with my beloved.

[although.... those new macbook pros.... ohhhh honey!]

all that to say:

my goal of 2013 is to get my photos sorted, edited, blogged, made into a photobook, 

and my vidoes burned onto a dvd. 

[i think i just overcommitted myself. wish me luck... and send some cake]

so here's to 2013! the year of photo-organization.

---

also: it's time for another IG dump.

those that follow me on instagram,

feel free to scroll on through.

these posts are more for my alzheimers

craigslist treasures made new with spray paint and a staple gun. love yumans and there cheap cast-offs.

christmas tree down and teepee back up. kinda nice, kinda sad.

and it was time to give up kate's naps [although i still miss them]. now we have an hour of 'quiet time' every afternoon while evie sleeps. 

evie's shoe collection is ridiculous [those are just her boots]. i've only bought her 2 pairs of shoes- the rest were hand-me-downs or gifts. that girl is spoiled. 

and i rang in the new year like always; at work, dealing with intoxicated morons. but it's a good trade off since i get christmas off if i work NYE.

evie has been working on her new moves. there's been reaching, and scooting and jumping like crazy.

and then evie started crawling!! 11 months old. such a lazy porker. but dang is she the sweetest.

kate likes to dress herself. basically it's a princess or fairy dress everyday and some crazy footwear.

and the weather for my girls weekend wasn't looking so great [but it turned out fantastic]

a much needed mini-vacation to southern california. the perks of yuma living.

after a day of cookies, popcorn and soda; my body was craving something better. the waitress probably thought i was crazy when i ordered a plate of edemame and nothing else. 

and this cold snap just will not leave. i even dug out my beanie which conveniently covers my unwashed hair nicely. 

until next time.

a return to socal

every parent deserves a break from changing poopy bums, playing princess hide-and-seek and pureed green beans. this last weekend, my friend tyrel and i got a break from mommy-hood. we jetted over to san diego for saturday and sunday for some food, shopping and non-stroller pushing. 

it was as fabulous as it sounds.

the weather was a tiny bit on the nippy side but still gorgeous. 

socal certainly doesn't disappoint. 

so thanks again, san diego:

for being so close to yuma...

for having such great shopping...

for being near the ocean...

for having so many dining options...

and for another great weekend getaway.

saturday we spent trolling around ikea [oh how i miss ikea] and the gaslamp quarter where we had amazing sandwiches at the tipsy crow. 

then we caught a movie [les mis. i'm a sucker for a good musical plus it wasn't animated. always a bonus]

 ----

we spent sunday morning wandering around coronado island, soaking up the smell of the ocean, the gorgeous beach cottages, the wonderful sunshine and of course; the asian tourists [who always seem like the happiest people. peace signs and huge grins galore]

^ the bike i want to buy kate ^

----

to jack-

thanks for wrangling your three kidlets for two days so i could borrow tyrel. 

as a thank you i took a picture of the house i'm going to buy you guys.

you're welcome.

----

to bb-

i saw this store window and thought of you.

my previous offer still stands-

when you open your next store, i would very much like to be your official

 'store window decorator/in-house nurse'. there'll be a position for that, right?