So my 5 day weekend is coming to an end... *sigh*. It really was wonderful while it lasted. I am working the next 3 nights, then have 1 night off, then back for 2, then 1 night off, then back again. I am exhausted just thinking about it lol. I get really sad when it comes time to go back to work because that means I won't see Jim again until the night I'm off. The next time I'll see him is Saturday night. :( I get off of work Saturday morning, but he has to work all day. So I'll see him Saturday night, but then Sunday he is volunteering for all of the services at church (he's picking up all of the donated items that the church members will be leaving in the back of their cars... and since I really shouldn't be lifting heavy objects, don't know if I'll stay to volunteer). Then I work again Sunday night. So besides the fact that work is really stressful, not seeing Jim for days at a time just makes me really emotional (probably heightened because of my pregnancy... or at least that's what I'm blaming it on hehe). I feel like I need my daily fix of Jim to get me through the work week, but unfortunately that's just not feasible with our work schedules right now. It makes me envious of couples that get to see each other every night after a long day at work, get to eat dinner together and catch up and then hold each other as they fall asleep in bed. The nights we get to do that I appreciate so much more now. I know I really shouldn't complain because I'm blessed to even have a job, but everyone has their issues and these just happen to be mine at the moment. I hope my pregnant body will be able to keep up until I start my maternity leave when I'm 38 weeks (4 more weeks!). What's getting me through is the light at the end of the tunnel... every day is one day closer to meeting our baby girl! I think about Abigail ALL THE TIME. I am sooo excited for her to be here (so not ready for the no sleep/always tired aspect of it though). I go into her room often and daydream about her being here and what it will be like. It's still hard for me to believe she is inside of me right now. We still haven't gotten a 3D/4D ultrasound done, but don't know of any place that does it in the west valley that is open during a time when we are both available. I want to see what she looks like, but I guess I don't mind waiting until she is actually here and saving the money it would cost to get the ultrasound done. Well it's 3:30A.M. now, so I should really get to sleep. (Working nights really screws up my sleeping schedule on my nights off!)

Craft day!

Today I spent the day with my sister in law Laura! We went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast where I had a coupon- buy 1 get 1 free breakfast! Eating out can be expensive, but when you have a coupon it makes it more worth it. :) If we are going out to eat, we try in both our families to only go somewhere where we have a coupon. During breakfast we talked about our plans for the day, what crafts we wanted to make together for our girls and how fun it will be once Abigail is here! We first went to Michaels because they had cute daisy flowers (see pic below) on sale for 89 cents each, plus we had a 40% off coupon and Laura gets an additional 15% off since she's a teacher! Then I introduced Laura to SAS Fabric store! It is so ridiculously cheap there for the elastic to make headbands. I also bought some elastic for the fitted crib sheet I plan to make for Abigail (once my sewing machine gets fixed... I really need to get on that... only 6 weeks til she's here!) Then we went to her classroom to work on our projects! We made some of the same headbands/bows so our daughters will match. :) Our next craft day will be a relaxing getaway for a day (thanks to groupon) where we will be making tutus for our girls! :) So excited. After we made some headbands, we ate lunch at Culver's. She had free kids meal coupons that her school gives out to their students, so we grabbed a couple coupons and enjoyed a nice free meal complete with a scoop of frozen custard! Then we went back to Michaels to get a couple more of those cute flowers hehe (had to reprint the coupon online so we could get the 40% off discount again of course hehe). It was such a fun, inexpensive day! I love that we both look for the best prices. When Laura and I first met, I didn't know how much we'd have in common, but the longer we're sisters the more we're finding things in common and things to do together! Can't wait to dress up our little girls in the creations we make for them!

Abigail's new headbands!

Abigail's headband/bow holder so far!

Lots of headbands... definitely need to make more bows/clips :)

Wonderful weekend!

I can't remember the last time I had a whole weekend off (Friday, Saturday AND Sunday night!) It was wonderful and I'm still off for the next couple days which is even more amazing! I definitely appreciate my time with Jim a lot more working nights. Our few nights a week together mean so much to me. Friday night Jim had to work late (until 11:00P.M... yuck), so I came with him to one of his client's offices and kept him company while he worked. It was nice to be able to be together even though he still had to work. Saturday was St. Patrick's Day. It was a pretty relaxing day for the Podzius household. Wore green (well I did, Jim didn't hehe), went to church and had corned beef and cabbage for dinner. :) Spent a nice night relaxing on the couch watching a movie with my love. Today (Sunday) was a fun day! First was Anjelyna and James' baby shower. It was so nice to see her again! We are both looking quite pregnant now. Last night we saw each other I was about 4 months and she was about 5, and we both were hardly showing if at all. I can't believe they are due in just a few shoft weeks! And we are due in only 6! Our lives are so parallel it's funny... we went to nursing school together, were roommates, were both dating men names James who both drove red mustangs. Then we got engaged then married just a few short months apart from each other for both and now we are both having babies! Jim and I only stayed at their baby shower for about an hour, because it was also our nephew Colton's 3rd birthday party on the other side of town (went to Gilbert for their baby shower then back to Arrowhead for our nephew's party). We got there towards the end of the party, then stayed for awhile to spend time with Jim's sis and family. I am so excited for Abigail and Kenzie (her cousin) to become friends. They will only be about 9 months apart! And I love that Abigail has a cousin to get all her hand-me-down clothing. :) Works out perfectly! Then tonight Jim and I watched the season finale of The Walking Dead. Boy that show scares me, but I can't stop watching! Anyway, here are pictures from Anjelyna and James' baby shower today!

Anjelyna and I with our baby bellies :)

They have chickens in their backyard and they laid their first eggs!

such a cute set up!

Aww the happy parents-to-be James and Anjelyna :)

Sunday evening I got to spend time with my favorite ladies- Kristen, Nikki and Kelly. So much has been going on in our lives lately, it was nice to all get together and catch up. Usually 2 or 3 of us get together, but to coordinate our schedules so that all 4 of us can meet up is usually difficult, so I'm glad we all were able to get together this time. :) I've been in a transformation group with these ladies since 2010. A transformation group is something my church does where we get together with a few people of the same gender and can be completely open and honest with. We keep each other accountable in our faith, we read the Bible together and pray for each other throughout the week. But we also keep it real- they know all my struggles, worries and fears and that's why these ladies have become my closest girlfriends. It was so nice catching up over dinner at Wildflower then going to see The Lorax with them! Life is about to change as we know it- I'm about to have a baby, Kelly is getting married in April and Nikki is getting married in June then moving to Chicago. It makes me a little sad that once I finally found a core group of girlfriends, things are going to change, but that's life. I'm super excited for everything in store for us though! And we are already planning a girls' trip to visit Nikki in Chicago next year. :) A pic of us from Nikki's birthday back in November:

Today I finally found the time to make my memo board for my little office space! It was a lot harder and more time consuming than I had anticipated to make the ribbons evenly spaced... I ended up just giving up and eye-balling it because I wanted to spend time with Jim when he got home. It looks okay at first glance, but when I went back and measured it, I was totally off on spacing them evenly. :/ I also finally bought a personal cutting machine! I've been wanting to purchase a Silhouette Cameo so badly, but couldn't justify paying the price ($269.99 on amazon)... so I was pleased to see that the Cricut Mini was on sale at Michaels this week for $99! It's not as fancy as the cameo, but will do just fine. :) I'm excited to make decorations for Abigail's shower and lots of other things with it! My sis in law Laura and I are going to have a craft day next Monday and I'm very much looking forward to it!

Have I mentioned how much I love my days off? Hehe well I do. Work really stresses me out and I am counting down the weeks/days until I can have a little break from it. Although I know my job is a blessing to be able to help provide for my little family, Jim knows how much my job negatively affects me and the amount of stress I put myself in because of it. I really hope I one day find a job that I love. Jim constantly reminds me though that God has me working here for a reason and he's growing me into the nurse I'm meant to be. It has always been my dream to go on medical missions and so I know hard work on a med-surg floor is necessary and giving me the skills to be able to serve God and His mission field in that way. But sometimes I just want a desk job where I work normal hours and be home in the evenings to be with my family. It really hurts me to be apart from Jim days at a time. That's why I want to work in a clinic setting as a nurse (M-F, no weekends/holidays.. ahhh sounds amazing), but once Abigail is born, to put her in daycare 5x a week while Jim and I are both at work is definitely something I do not want to do. We'll see... first things first, get through this next month of work then have a happy, healthy Abigail! :)

Love my days off.

I love my days off from work. Yesterday I got off of work in the morning, went to sleep when I got home, then got a wonderful prenatal massage at Dolce (thank you groupon!). When I returned home, Jim surprised me with a picnic packed and a date in the park. :) Ahhh I absolutely loved it. Jasper came with us too and I remember thinking, at this moment, life is absolutely perfect. I have the best husband in the world, a beautiful baby girl on the way and the most loving doggy. I love my little fam! Our time in the park was pure bliss. Definitely started my "weekend" off right. Spending quality time on a low-cost, casual date is exactly what I wanted and needed. I picked up 2 extra nights at work this past week since we just switched from paper to electronic charting and they were allowing everyone to pick up shifts. As much as the 13-hour nights are tiring, it is a blessing that I was able to pick up shifts with Abigail on the way and me taking time off of work. After our lovely date, Jim agreed to do whatever I wanted for the rest of the night! What a wonderful husband I have. :) So we went to Target to register for some more baby items and we picked up the baby swing I've been wanting from someone off of craigslist. Craigslist is amazing. I love getting things for a great deal! Then we went home and cuddled on the couch and watched some tv before bed. Ahhh such a wonderful day. :)

Today was a good day as well. I went grocery shopping with my coupons in hand. I usually go on Wednesdays since that's when the majority of new ads come out, but didn't have time this past week so I went today before the ads change tomorrow. It stinks going on a Tuesday since some of the items on sale are already sold out. I know I can get rain checks, but then I never remember to go back for the item once I do. Then I cooked dinner for us and enjoyed a nice night relaxing with Jim and Jasper.

I truly wish I could be a stay at home mom once Abigail is born, but it's just not realistic with a house mortgage, 2 car payments, and lots of bills. :( But working only 3 days of the week has got to be the next best thing! One of the perks of being a nurse. But I know if I were a stay at home mom, I would feel guilty about not contributing financially since I remember already feeling like that during those few months of not working after I graduated from nursing school. I hope I can find a job after Abigail is born that is also 12-hour shifts so I can continue working 3 days and having 4 days off and at home. Speaking of which, my contract for work was originally supposed to end in mid-March, but they are keeping me on the schedule another month until mid-April! Such an answer to our prayers. Now I will have a job up until I am 38 weeks, then I can just get prepared for Abigail those last couple weeks (if she doesn't come early).

My life the last few days.

So Jim joined a softball league about a month ago. I finally was able to watch one of his practices on Saturday. Jasper came too. :) I love watching my husband play sports. He is so good at all of them! No, I'm not biased at all. ;)

Saturday night I went to work. It was definitely one of my tougher nights. Another 13 hour shift with no break or lunch. :( My temporary position is supposed to end in mid-March, but my charge nurse told me that she talked to our supervisor and she thinks she will be able to put me on the schedule for the following month... if so, that would totally be an answer to my prayers! I just need a job until I become closer to delivering, so I hope that it's true and she can keep me on the schedule for another month. A lot of family/friends have been praying for my job situation and I know it'll all work out (whether I have a job or not, God will provide). Jim and I already see God stepping in and providing... besides Jim's regular full-time job, he has his own business on the side where he does computer work for people. Lately he's been getting more calls to fix their computers which means more money to save up for when Abigail arrives. It is so cool when we can see God taking care of us. :)

Sunday evening Jim and I hosted a neighborhood block party on our street. Last week we went door to door handing out flyers for it. Out of the 20 houses on our block, 7 of them actually answered their doors and 3 households actually came. :) Ever since Jim bought this house I wanted to make it a goal to reach out to our neighbors and befriend them. I feel like a lot of neighbors nowadays have become strangers to one another and I remember growing up where you actually knew your neighbors. I want the same for our nieghborhood and family. Even though only 3 households came, it was so nice to be able to get to know them more and connect. It was also nice to have the support of our friends from church. A few families from our church came over to support what we're trying to do and we really appreciated the extra love. As Christians, the world is our mission field, Jim and I are just starting out with the people on our block. :) The best way to share Jesus with others is to build relationships with them and show them the love of Christ, not by shoving the Gospel down their throat, but by being genuinely caring and loving neighbors.

Today I had the day off. Love my days off. :) I've been looking on craigslist for a pack n play since that is one of the pricier items for baby. I've always loved the Graco Silhouette pack n play in the Rittenhouse print, but couldn't justify paying about $200 for it brand new. I've seen it a few times on CL but either the price was still high or they were too far. Today I found it for a great price (only $79! which I think is worth it. I know there are pack n plays much cheaper, but this is the one I really wanted). It has all the bells and whistles (which I know isn't necessary but is a nice perk for the price we got it at). I wanted a play yard that didn't look too kiddish and would blend in nicely with our decor. I LOVE the black and white damask print on this one and even though I think this is more towards the feminine side, if we have a boy next, it'll do for him too since the colors are so neutral.

Our new (to us) pack n play! The canopy on the left goes up for shade and the cute little bears hang down like a mobile. And on the right the changing table folds down with storage for diapers and wipes. :) Love it!

This is the blankie that we will rock Abigail to sleep in before she naps in the pack n play. Her Berda and Papa gifted it to her (Jim's parents hehe)

Jasper was curious about this new contraption in our home...

 

 

So that's what's been going on with us the past few days... tomorrow we have Abigail's 31 week OB appointment! Ahh I can't believe she will be here in 9 weeks (or less, hopefully not more)! We will be getting a 3D/4D ultrasound done sometime soon and we are so excited to see what she looks like! Tomorrow night I work. The whole hospital is switching from paper to electronic charting this week, so it is definitely going be a crazy week at work. That's the reason I got hired in the first place, to add more nurses on the floor when we go live with Epic Electronic Medical Record. I hope I'm ready!

Spring flowers

Ever since we had landscaping put into our backyard last year, the flower beds have been empty. I would look outside and still think the backyard looked unfinished since the flower beds I was originally so excited to be put in were still left without any blooms. Today I finally got around to planting some pretty spring flowers! The backyard looks so much more inviting and colorful. I just want to spend my whole day back there with Jasper! Not to mention the weather is perfect right now, but alas... gotta go grocery shopping and run some errands before my 13-hour shift tonight. :/ But I am proud of my little gardening work. :) Now, who wants to come over for a barbeque?!

Jasper hanging out in our cozy backyard :)

yes I know our grass looks dead... we didn't seed it for winter grass this season :/

finally there are flowers in the flower beds!

Next on the list for the backyard... a shed (going in that concrete corner pictured above) and a pergola over the patio. But that won't be for awhile, gotta save up money to prepare for Abigail's arrival in a couple months. :)