HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY KATE!!

today my baby girl turned 2!! I can't believe what a big girl she is! we had a fun...and exhausting...day. it started off with, of course, faffles. it was just kate and me because dad and devin were at school and work, mom was with nana at her surgery (which went well. hope you're feeling well, nana!!) and ryan wasn't home from work when us girls woke up hungry! they were delicious and kate loved them!

I bought kate this pin to wear all day. at first she thought it was a little weird, but then she really liked it. it was a nice reminder for her because she doesn't actually understand what "its your birthday" means. now she knows it means she gets to wear a pink pin and do ALL of her favorite things!

grammy and papa got kate an annual zoo pass for her birthday. we were really excited because we're going to live really close to the houston zoo when we move and you can use it there too. here are some pictures us having fun at the zoo today:

I don't really know how kate ended up so pink. it started with her dress....then I put the pin on....then we had to get her hat to keep her head from getting sunburned (it was in the 90s today) and then the heat made her fair face turn pink. gradually she was as pink as a flamingo! but she looked adoreable!

because it was so hot we weren't sure if the animals were going to be very active, but they surprisingly were. the tiger paced right next to the glass in front of us, the polar bear was swimming laps and the monkeys were swinging all over the place. kate loved all the animals....except for the rhino. we walked over to him and he was standing in this big mud puddle. then he decided to lay down in it and as soon as he hit the water, he let out the hugest, loudest fart! (amplified by the mud, of course.) NIIICE. mom and I started cracking up laughing and then he let out this big rhino sigh. I told him I knew how he felt (as a huge pregnant woman in the heat....not as an animal with gas). because we were laughing, kate said "funny!" but then she started to cry. apparently those were too many scary noices coming from a scary looking animal! so we left and found the zebras!!

another fun discovery at the zoo was this frog that spits water when you push a button. kate loved it, and I loved sticking my hot, swollen feet in it! needless to say, we spent a LOT of time by this fountain!

here is kate in a turtle shell

and kate doing one of the things she likes doing almost as much as eating waffles, running in the grass. looks like nice, green tucson grass, eh? its actually an artificial lawn. funny funny tucson.

after the zoo we attempted a nap (kate is really good at sitting in her bed during naptime and not getting out. I call it "kate reflection time" instead of naptime because she'll just sit in there and talk for as long as I want her to! and believe me, I want her to! I am one lucky, exhausted pregnant mom!) and then when papa got home, we all went to chuck e cheese! wahoo! she was pretty tired by this point, but we had fun. here she is playing a few games:

she really liked skeeball....but you had to be careful. her favorite part is putting the "moneys" in the machine and then she would just start throwing the balls one after another....none of which would make it up the ramp and they would all come back at her.

but her favorite was this ride:

the monster truck!! go figure. devin and ryan had lots of fun with the games too and apparently uncle devin is a stud when it comes to winning tickets. he had a few games he could just walk up to and win 50 tickets in one token. after we were all done we ended up with 420 tickets! I wish I had had an uncle devin when I was little! (no seriously, I really wish I would have had an uncle devin when I was little. I remember how much I prized those tickets!!) I picked kate out a wand for 300 tickets, a bracelet for 100 tickets, a ring for 40 tickets....and then I gave the rest to ryan and he picked out these:

he just knew she was going to love them! funny thing was, she did! she was SO TIRED on the ride home, she would put these on and then just giggle! oh man, she's cute! we got home and did the cake thing (which I didn't get any pictures of, just video....which is okay because I didn't make an extra special cake this year. I thought about it and then just thinking about it made me tired so I went out and bought one!) and she opened some presents and then she went to bed! WHAT A DAY!! I think she had fun. and now she's 2. we've been trying to teach her to hold up 2 fingers for a while, but its a lot harder than one. we have a ways to go!

and now her birthday is over. this was the one day I wasn't desperately waiting for some contractions to start. now we've partied and we're ready for another birth day!

what the midwife said...

for those who are curious, when I went to the midwife on friday she said that I'm ready to go! I'm dilated to a 3 and am 70% effaced. of course, that means I can go any minute...or in 2 weeks. (I was dilated to a 3 for a few weeks with kate before she actually decided to come!) thats why I feel ready...and I am ready to go any time. I told her I wanted to be induced to make sure that my mom was going to be here for it and she said we need to schedule it ahead of time because they don't have many slots available and usually they use those for emergency inductions (like mother's with high blood pressure) instead of just elective reasons (like mother's leaving town!) so she scheduled me for this friday morning (may 2). we are hoping I won't need that appointment and that I go into labor on my own, but its there if I need it. so I WILL have a baby this week!

and for those of you who may remember, last time I was completely anti-induction because I was scared about the increased risk of c-section and the increased pain stories I had heard. my midwife told me she is comfortable inducing me because my body is so ready and most of the problems come when people are induced before their body is showing those signs. so I'm not scared! I do just keep hoping he'll decide to come on his own.

prom night

tonight was the big night. I was hoping to spoil it all by having a baby today, but no luck. its amazing the difference between guys and girls as they are getting ready for prom. I thought devin looked quite nice. the first picture shows the whole group. there is zac and ashley (kelsey's cousin from phoenix area?), devin and kelsey, and kyler and...his date. (she is in the other ward and I don't remember her name.) aren't they a nice looking group? we met at the baker's house to take the pictures. here are some good ones:

devin and kelsey. don't you love her dress? I'm totally loving the short dress and cute shoes look! I think they are a NICE looking couple!

they had dinner over at kyler's grandma's house. they made it really fancy. they asked the dads to come and serve the dinner so dad wore the pieces of his tux that devin didn't wear. (mom was really glad that devin could fit into dad's tux because it saved having to pay the outrageous tux rental prices!)

they had dinner set up outside with christmas lights hanging and candles floating in the pool. ver romantic!

and up against their house they have jasemine growing and it smelled really good! (this is them in front of the bushes)

they set the table really nicely with all the nice china and everything.

mom was in charge of appetizers and they sure looked yummy to me! they had lots of courses with appetizers, a salad, main dish and dessert. I only stayed long enough to take pictures of the appetizers, but it all looked and smelled really good!

they ate and then were off to the dance. tonight they're coming back to our house to play some pool and ping pong and hang out. I made muddy buddies. I can't imagine that there is anyone on earth who loves muddy buddies as much as I do! I ate too much! and now I'm just crossing my fingers that I go into labor tonight! all my bags are packed and I'm ready to go!

I am now retired

today was my official last day of work!! hooray!! actually, I am leaving with some mixed emotions. as a 9 months pregnant girl I am overjoyed to be done working and ready to have this baby! at the same time, I really do enjoy what I do (did...ha!) and I'm not exaggerating when I say I am leaving the best office anyone could ever work for. today they brought a chocolate cake and a balloon and I felt very loved. I am defianately going to miss everyone there!!



in other news, here is a recent picture of me and my belly:



I am starting to get really anxious for this baby to come out...and the biggest reason is because I'm feeling the pressure of my mom leaving on may 7th and I would just really like to have the baby asap so she'll be here. its sad to say, but actually the excitement seeing the baby takes 2nd. (a very close 2nd.)

we go to the midwife tomorrow and I'm anxious to see what they say!

pima county fair

a few families in the ward (mainly devin's friend's families) had invited my family to go to the fair tonight all together. I wasn't planning on going until just this afternoon and I'm really glad we did because it was so much fun! we got there and said hi to all the people we knew who were riding the big rides and then we took kate to ride some kiddie rides. the first one we walked up to was this ride called aladdin that just went in a circle and kind of took them up and down. they said all of us adults were too big to go on it with her so she had to go by herself. I didn't know what she would do....but she just got in and we buckled her up and she had a ball! I was sitting there watching her thinking.....how is she this big?!?! it was just too adoreable!!



(see what I mean?!? she looks SO big!!!)
then grampa took her on the merry-go-round...twice.
she would squeal everytime it came around to mom and I. it was just too much fun to watch her. after our 3 rides we got some fair food (mmmm greasy!) and then went and saw the animals. kate really liked them all...but her favorite were the ducks. which is funny, because she sees ducks all the time at our lakes! but apparently they are her favorite. I really liked the baby goats. they were SO cute!!

it was such a fun night. we didn't get home until 8:45 (WAY past kate's bedtime!) but she was still wide eyed and as happy as can be! she had been such a good, happy girl at the fair! I was so proud!

as I was putting her to bed, I was trying to hurry because it was late and I wanted to get her to bed so I could relax and go watch dancing with the stars, so after I brushed her teeth I tried to skip reading our scriptures book and go straight to prayer. but I knew I hadn't fooled kate when she said "alma." thats what she calls the book. can you believe that my not quite yet 2 year old was reminding me about reading the scriptures!? so we read "alma" (but actually we read about samuel the lamanite) and then we said prayers and went to bed!

it was a really fun family home evening, we were just bummed that ryan couldn't be there with us! hopefully he'll read this tonight at work!!

loving the grass

unfortunately, here in tucson we're a little grass deprived. its not really a big deal usually (and my dad was happy to give away his lawn mower when they were moving here) but its kind of sad how excited kate gets when she gets around grass! ryan takes her down to the little grassy patch we have by one of the lakes in our neighborhood on his days off. they feed the ducks and roll in the grass and have lots of fun and on friday I got to go with them. it was a gorgeous day and it felt so nice to just lay in the grass and watch kate. funny story: I was laying down and ryan and kate went a little ways away to go roll down the hill. then kate started running back and forth between where ryan was and where I was. when she was over by me and we were talking, a car slowed down to ask ryan if I was okay. they thought I looked passed out laying in the grass and that kate was trying to wake me up....and that ryan was just sitting there oblivious to this emergency situation!! he had to assure them that I was really okay, just a huge pregnant lady who was tired and decided to lay in the grass.

on saturday we got a lot of things done that we needed to, but we also took a little time for swimming. it was warm but not as sunny as usual so it was a little cold when you got out of the pool. here is kate trying to get warm

the funny thing is that this is her favorite cuddle position! I find her like that in her bed all the time or sometimes she'll just get her blankie and curl up on the floor like this. it might come from being a swaddled baby for so long!!

last but not least on this weekend update, on sunday I was released from my calling as the YW 2nd counselor! it was kind of hard to leave it behind, but also kind of nice to pass on my book and everything to someone else.

like mother like daughter

today I got home from work hot and exhausted and so I went straight to the freezer for my popsicles. I ate 3! kate had 2 herself and looked mighty cute doing it too!

(her daddy got her dressed today! I love when I get home from work and he's put together such a cute outfit! of course, it helps that grammy actually did her hair!!)

95 degrees and pregnant

so I really don't know how people survive pregnancy when they are pregnant all through the summer time. especially here in tucson. hats off to you women with fall babies!! I, personally, could not do it! today it was 95 degrees outside. on the warm side, even for tucson, for this time of year. I took kate to walmart today and as I was putting her in her carseat she was squirming so her arms wouldn't touch and saying "hot!" that really is one of the worst things about it being hot is having to get into hot cars. luckily we have the ice pack cover for her carseat that keeps it nice and cool when we're running errands. (a very good invention!)

but with all this hot weather and my tummy not feeling up to eating much today anyway I had a massive craving on the way home from my sewing class for popsicles!!

so I stopped to get some on the way home and they were delicious!

its going to be back in the 80s in a few days, but until then I have a stock pile of popsicles!!

from so good to so bad in 24 hours

saturday I had a really good day that started with my baby shower! it was so nice and I'm so grateful to kelley, my mom and sister gooch for all they did!

(this is me and kelley. if you didn't know, kelley is pregnant also and due in july. thats why her little belly bump is so small and cute....and why I look so huge next to her!!)

we had a really yummy brunch and played some fun games and, after all the wonderful gifts, I feel much more ready for this baby boy to come! there was a diaper raffle there and if you brought a package of diapers then you put your name in a drawing. my friend adrian had brought this beautiful diaper cake

and she won! (she doesn't know it yet because she wasn't there....I have your prize and I'll have to get it to you somehow!)

I guess we didn't take very many pictures, but it really was beautifully set up! it was perfect!

the rest of saturday was spent cleaning. we're actually packing up a lot of things that we're not going to use before we move. it feels weird to pack....like we're moving soon! (which I'm totally in denial that we ARE moving soon!) and then for dinner ryan and kate and I went out to a good little pizza place by our house. it was a nice little saturday.....

but then it went downhill. I went to bed and I woke up around 1 am not feeling well. I kept tossing and turning and finally I went downstairs and watched tv and kind of slept. basically I was up all night running to the bathroom and I actually threw up (which I never do....and I'm SO glad I never do because its gross.) I got absolutely no sleep that night and I felt awful. ryan had eaten exactly everything that I had the day before so I knew it wasn't food poisoning and when I called my midwife she said that there had been a stomach flu going around and thats probably what it was. gradually throughout the day my tummy felt mostly better but my body was really achy and I just felt rotten. I was so glad my mom was here to take care of kate because I basically ignored her all day long. (we think she might have been feeling a little under the weather too because she was really clingy and crabby.) I didn't eat anything yesterday, just kept hydrated and by the time I was ready for bed I felt better. today I'm mostly better but still a little tired. I've been doing a lot of resting today but I do have to go to my sewing class this afternoon!

will you go to prom with me?

devin finally asked his friend kelsey to go to prom with him today and it was fun to get to help him. we spent a lot of time (and air) yesterday blowing up all these balloons for family home evening. we also filled them with confetti....white trash confetti....literally....it was from our shredder! and one balloon had a tiny piece of paper that was rolled up really small on which devin had typed out a big cheesy poem that he wrote. yes, thats right, devin wrote a poem! who knew he had that in him? on her door we left a shishkabob stick that I had made to look like a wand with this note on it:

kate came with us to fill the room and she was in balloon heaven. she was jumping around and squealing and having the best time! (and of course I thought she looked adoreable with her hair sticking up all over the place with all the static!) we just might have to get her a room full of balloons for her birthday!

happy *belated* birthday dani!

apparently I'm an awful sister because I unfairly honored jen on her birthday but forgot dani in february when it was hers. so anyways, I like you dani. and kate likes you. and we miss you. and it really freaks me out that you're, like, old now and dating boys and going to meet their parents. sheesh!! but happy 20th birthday!!

this week has been crazy busy. for our stake roadshow this year they are doing mini modern musicals and our ward chose the wizard of oz. but instead of it being a play that we perform they wanted us to film movies. we have this guy in our ward who is awesome at editing videos (he does it with his cute little family all the time) and we're shooting the whole thing in blue screen. BUT, our ward wasn't very good at starting early so now we're in panic mode. I spent a ton of time at the church helping on wednesday and thursday and I'll be helping a lot next week too. its fun, but a lot of work!! (and I'm not the one having to do the editing!!) friday I went to phoenix with kelley to the dental convention. it was really fun to have a friend this year (I've goone by myself the past 2 years) but driving there, sitting in 7 hours of classes, and driving home was very tiring!! so I've had a nice weekend getting to know my husband and daughter again and watching general conference. which was awesome. the thing about being this busy is that its making the time before this baby comes go by too fast!! I have yet to have get to the point where I'm just crazy anxious for this baby to come like I was with kate. on the contrary, I'm kind of stressing out about all the stuff I need to do. like find a place to live in houston, find someone to give us some loans for school, figure out health insurance for the next few years, find out how we're going to get all our stuff to houston, set up a place for this baby to sleep, pick out a name (no, we don't have one and we're not even close to having one), and push out a baby, all in the next few weeks!

happy birthday jen!

today my sister jen turns 24! we are 17 months apart and so I can't really remember life without jen. she was my best friend and worst enemy growing up (did she really have to follow me around and do everything I did?!) but I love her. in honor of her special day, here are some of my favorite jen memories:

- when we were little, I carved her name in a wood banister of our house and she got in trouble for it. I never fessed up! not only did I write her name, I made the J backwards just like she did. oh man, I was sneaky!

- jen had eye surgery when I was in 1st grade and I remember thinking she might die and being scared and then I was really excited when I saw her walk into the house with these funny yellow 80's sunglasses on.

- when we were little, I was a *little* bossy. when we would play barbies I would make her be all the ken dolls and I would be all the barbies. so yes, I had to be all 20 barbies and she could only play with the one ken.

- jen came to visit right after kate was born and she was really excited to help and change diapers and things....until the time kate sneezed and squirted her with lovely baby dookie. (hence the picture!)

- one time we both got pregnant at the same time and our due dates were 2 days apart and it stressed mom out....that was fun.

happy birthday jen! hope you have a fun day!