D. Family Coffee Break

This must be a record.  How many blogs have I done this week?!!?  Well, that just tells you there's A LOT going on these days, which means that baby Ella is making A LOT of progress, and Mommy is growing at a rapid rate.  Happy 25 weeks and 1 day!  Hooray!  The other night I discovered a brand new view while laying in bed and watching TV.  I discovered that while laying in bed, I can no longer see anything above my knees because of baby Ella. Hello, feet that now look like bear paws.  Nice to see you!  (Since I can't see you while I'm standing.)    Who knew my legs could even look this tiny. I guess when you see them below what feels like a gigantic belly, it can slim 'em down a bit! Nope, it doesn't look any better or less shocking in black and white. Take it in.  These might be the only bare belly shots you get...especially now that I know what they look like! Who needs a side profile shot of my belly when...

Last night while watching Dancing with the Stars (and eating an Eggo waffle) in bed, I felt what I thought was a "rumbling in my tummy" (as Winnie the Pooh would say).  After a few minutes of this, I looked down at my tummy and saw baby Ella punching the bottom left side of my tummy and kicking the upper right side...AT THE SAME TIME!  I quickly called Wyatt, who waited patiently with his video camera, filming my bare tummy, waiting to see what I had described.  After a few minutes, baby Ella did it again.  I can't say it enough, but this was such a strange feeling and another frightening moment watching Ella kick and punch for a few straight moments.  As the show continued and the music kept playing, baby Ella continued to move.  Could it be?  Did this baby inherit Daddy's dance moves?  (We all know it's not from me!)  MAAAAAYYYYBEEE!  This could be what our future holds... That's right, she's Asian. :) The possibilities of what th...

The other day I got home from work and a package had arrived from the Dressler family in Atlanta.  Yes, baby Ella got more clothes from Uncle Jason, Auntie Mary, cousin Addison (and of course, their dog, Jessie).  THIS is why girls love clothes. They begin to get them before they've come out of the womb! :) Thank you to the Dresslers for contributing to our unborn daughter's wardrobe! :) Easter weekend, we were able to catch up with some good friends.  This was the first time baby Ella was able to hear the voices of her soon-to-be Tita Ingrid, Tita Nara, and Tito Peter (China). :) (This was also the first time I was able to wear my "real" maternity shirt.  Go me!) Gotta get a picture with Daddy!  (One of very few together during this pregnancy.) Mommy even had some time to catch up on some sleepless nights, with a nap before Easter Vigil mass on Saturday, while the greatest husband/Daddy was folding laundry.  First born McKayla joined in on i...

Today, I'm 24 weeks, which also marks the one week anniversary of sleep deprivation, numbness in the hands from my already-existing-yet-amplified-by-pregnancy carpal tunnel, and one mean cat! That's right.  This blog won't be as jolly as the most of them have been.  As thankful as I am for this baby, this has been one very, very, VERY long and tough week to get through.  My baby-know-it-all emails have informed me that my carpal tunnel has probably arrived and that, I cannot deny.  It's come with a vengence! Among the other pregnancy symptoms that have hit:  insomnia.  For one week straight, I have yet to find one full night's sleep.  Could it be this basketball that's slowly growing inside of me?  Baby Ella has decided that she would like to move at night (all night) and sleep all day while I move.  How convenient.  Then again, who said kids did things at their parents' convenience, right?  :P  Practice for pare...

How great is he?!?!?! God Bless, Kat

...always presents another. This last weekend, I was unable to attend a bachelorette party for my close friend, Briana.  Travelling too far with these vericose-ridden pregnancy legs was just not an option.  (Sad times.) On a happier note, after declining the bachelorette party invitation, another invitation arrived for my other friend, Jessica's bridal shower.  (Happy times.) So instead of wine tasting in Santa Barbara and bar hopping with the girls on State Street, this preggo girl got to attend a bridal shower for one of the sweetest people in this world! Jessica was a part of Wyatt's RCIA group when he was coverting to Catholicism.  I feel so blessed to not only have met such a wonderful person, but to be able to call her a very dear friend as well. YES, they were THAT yummy.  Me with the bride-to-be. And when I returned home, my hubby surprised me with flowers.  (Yes, they are still in the Joe's Crab Shack "vase".) God Bless, Ka...

So I'm about 23.5 weeks and I'm still a-growin' and baby Ella is still making some major milestones.  She's getting so BIG !  Last night, I was in bed and asked Wyatt to feel my tummy.  (Because Ella's been sleeping so much lately, we take every opportunity to feel her kick when she's awake!)  Wyatt put his head "tummy level" and pressed on the left side.  As he did this, his eyes opened wide with shock.  Ella had made my tummy move on the right side and we saw it!  We've felt her kick and punch before, but we've never actually seen my tummy move.  What an amazing (and slightly frightening and awkward) thing to see!  I'm sure I'll get used to it, but what a cool moment!  Like always, after sharing that moment with Wyatt, I called Mama. :)  Baby Ella didn't choose to stop moving then either.  She stayed up all night, which meant, Mommy did too.  At 2:30am, I woke up to baby Ella kicking and punching.  What better ti...

This blog is so late, but we spent last Thanksgiving in Yreka, CA.  Driving home from dinner, this is what we saw....NADA. So safe. God Bless, Kat

McKayla meets a Christmas tree and battles it out with an ornament.  Kinda. God Bless, Kat

I never uploaded this video of how Wyatt and I announced to my family that we were pregnant.  We went to lunch with them before leaving for Christmas vacation with Wyatt's family and during the prayer, I mentioned, "...and please pray for this baby that we are going to bring into the world this coming year..." Neither of my parents heard it.  Since my sister knew ahead of time, she picked up the video and proceeded to ask my parents, "Did you hear what she said?"  My mom responded with, "Yeah, she's praying for her [future] baby." I added, "No, I'm praying for the baby we're going to have next year."  ...AAAAANNNNDDD....TEARS (from  Mama).  Now that's more of the reaction we expected! (*Please notice that Papa was so hungry he was eating in the background and still had yet to process the announcement.) (*Please disregard my chubby first trimester face.) SURPRISE! When we arrived in Arizona to see Wyatt's mom, ...

I found some videos of Wyatt's niece, Addison, from our trip to Atlanta in October 2010.  She is such a smiley girl! Here's another one after Daddy Jason changed her diaper and he forgot to put her pants back on.  Hahaha...she was an unhappy camper those few minutes. We can't wait to see this little girl again. God Bless, Kat

The other day we found McKayla on the kitchen table (GASP!) like this... Maybe you'll feel bad to know that the sun faced INTO our old apartment and now...nada.  Now, she has a half window that she can't even lay out in front of.  I guess she got desperate.  So she climed on top of the table to reach whatever sunlight she could get. Hey, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do...right? She is SO BORED with life...or she's just being a cat. God Bless, Kat 

This weekend we did some more prepping for the baby by taking a trip to IKEA for some organizing essentials (a desk).  Up to now, we've been using the baby's room to store not one thing in particular, but everything in general.  As we've emptied it out, we've found that all desk items, paperwork, and technology (printer, shredder, etc.) were still collecting dust in the corner. After getting the movitation, we bought what we thought was a simple desk from IKEA.  I know this happens to everyone .  We all go to IKEA thinking, "I just need something that's not too expensive and looks nice."  Well, this comes at a cost, people.  The amount of " pieces " to this " simple " desk was unbelievable.  Yes, it might have had 4 legs, one top and a drawer (after assembly), but I've never seen so many nuts and bolts in my life!  (And I've seen a few, considering our entire bedroom set is from IKEA.) Start time:  8:30pm Once we finally got ...

I don't go here very often, but every once in awhile, I get the urge to shop there and when I leave, I always wonder " How come I don't come here often enough? " Here are some of the things I got... Amazing flowers to brighten up our apartment ($6.99 total), vase= drinking class from Joe's Crab Shack.  (I don't know what happened to all our vases, so this had to do.) Peppercorn and garlic marinated pork loin ($6.95) and asparagus ($1- SERIOUSLY!  This was only HALF of the $1 bunch!) Big thank you to whoever it was that got us our Jr. Griddler for our wedding.  I can't quite recall, but it was THE BEST gift...EVER.  We use it 2-3 times a week. Trader Joe's- Why the heck don't I shop here more often?!?! God Bless, Kat

This morning Wyatt and I went to see Dr. Lee again for another ultrasound. He wanted us to come back when he thought Ella's heart would be more developed so he could take a clearer photo of it for his records. So, we went and according to Dr. Lee, Ella's heart was in tip top shape. Dr. Lee was full of jokes this morning at 8a.m. (that's my kind of doctor!). Just to be on the safe side, I did ask him to confirm that this baby will be an Ella and not a Kody. (I've heard the stories of mistakes and now that I'm registering for lots of pink items, I wanted to be sure.) :) Dr. Lee confirmed that Ella will be arriving. I proceeded to ask him how there can be mistakes with an ultrasound that seemed so clear and his response to me was, "Well, sometimes with baby boys, there's shrinkage with all the cold water in there and it makes it look like it's a girl." (PAUSE.  Nod of the head.)  YES, he said it! It took Wyatt and myself a few seconds...(PAUSE.  LOOK...

Every night before bed, Wyatt looks at me and says something along the lines of, "Whoa.  Your tummy's definitely growing."  (Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Dad.  :P I wanted to give you a different kind of view in today's blog- one that shows how I see my tummy. Daddy-to-be is trying to listen for Ella.   Good night kiss for the baby. (Yes, my tummy is really that BIG !) With every stretch of the tummy and kick from our baby, we feel even more blessed to be welcoming a baby into our family. God Bless, Kat