Christmas Morning!!

Yay!!  It's Christmas!!  The boys were so excited to come downstairs and see the tree
loaded with presents and their stockings overflowing.  Owen went straight for his stocking
and dumped the entire thing out on the floor to give him easy access.  Joe on the other
hand, went towards the presents.  He was so funny because he would look at the name tag
and then spell it out because he's learned how to spell his name. 
"Look, this one is for J-O-E!"  It was really cute.

The boys were really excited that Santa brought them what they had been hoping for.
When Joe opened his remote control dinosaur we thought he was going to cry.  He
held it up in front of him and excitedly said, "Oh, It's what I've always wanted!!"

One of my favorite gifts was the voice changing Darth Vader helmet I got for Ryan.  He

looked at that thing every single time we would be in Target.  Now he is the proud owner of

one.  And it looks hilarious when the boys put it on which is an added bonus.

  

As always, Ryan spoiled me silly.  He went to Nordstrom and worked with one of the sales

girls there to pick out multiple outfits for me that he thought I would like.  Then he ordered

four different winter jackets for me to try on and choose from.  As I typically do, I ended up

returning most of it because I felt bad getting so much.  Plus some things just don't end up

fitting right.  But it doesn't matter to me if I returned every single thing and walked away

without a single gift.  The thought he puts into it means way more to me than the gifts

ever do, and that's all that matters to me. 

I think it's safe to say the Kalitas are well on our way to having a very merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve

The Christmas festivities have officially begun.  We started the morning having Tim, Val and

the kids at our house for breakfast and a little gift exchange.  The kids played and we visited

until a little after lunch.  Then they went home so all the kids could rest up for the evening's

festivities.  We met up again at Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kay's with the rest of Ryan's family.

Here is our annual family picture in front of their gigantic Christmas tree,

complete with my sweet nose bandage.  ;)

While we ate and visited, the boys had a blast playing in the basement with Ruby and Max,

biding time until we were ready to open presents.  They tore through the huge piles of

presents then watched a movie while the adults did our grab bag.  At 11:00PM we decided it

was finally time to head home since we had to help Santa get ready for the morning.

I am super tired, but I can hardly wait for them to wake up!!

Not Your Typical Nose Job

About 2 months ago I went to the dermatologist for a regular skin check.  I have never gone
annually, or even close to that really, but I thought it would be good to start.  She checked
me over, removed a small mole on my side that drove me nuts and told me I looked fine.
Then I asked her about a small mole on the bridge of my nose.  She asked me if it had
always been there and I told her no, it just showed up a few years ago.  She didn't think
anything of it, but decided to take a biopsy to be safe.

To be honest, I wasn't worried in the slightest.  She told me she thought it was nothing and I
believed her.  I had actually forgotten about it until two weeks later I got a call at 6PM from
the doctor herself.  Whenever the doctor calls instead of a nurse, you know it's not good.
She told me the biopsy came back positive for basal cell carcinoma...skin cancer.
Thankfully with this type of cancer they are able to cut it all out, and you are cancer free
right then.  Still not fun to hear, but I wasn't overly concerned.  She had just cut a mole off in
her office and it wasn't a big deal at all.  It seemed like this would be similar, right?

Wrong!  I was not mentally prepared for the actual surgery, called Mohs surgery.  They take
the cancer out by cutting out a small layer of skin and then looking at is under a microscope to check the margins (edges). They make sure there is healthy tissue all the way around the
cancerous area.  If not, they have to cut another layer and continue the process until the
margins are clear.  I had myself convinced it was simple.  In my mind it was no big deal.  

But my views quickly changed once I was at the surgeon's office.  I walked into my exam
room and saw a chair in the middle of the room draped in white sheets, underneath a huge
light.  It all looked so cold and surgical (duh! Guess I should have seen that coming).  I
talked with the nurse, got into my gown, sat down in the chair, put my hair into a
surgical cap and waited for the doctor.

When he came in he told me a little about the procedure, then took a marker and drew a
circle around the small mole on my nose about 3 times larger than the mole itself.  I asked
him if he was cutting out that entire area and he said not necessarily, but they would know
more once he started cutting.  He then talked to me about the scar I was going to have,
something I really hadn't thought much about.  He said it might be too red or too white for
my liking, but they had a laser that could help that.  It was starting to sink in that this was not
just a tiny mole removal.  I was looking at having a considerable scar right
in the middle of my face.  

The surgery itself went pretty fast.  The worst part was them sticking a gigantic needle of
numbing solution into the bridge of my nose.  It hurt so bad tears started streaming down
from the corners of my eyes.  By that point, I was over this whole thing and just plain sad.
They left the room when they were done with the first layer and I started to cry.  My nose
hurt, I was convinced I was going to have a huge scar, I had to wear a ridiculously large bandage on my nose for a few days and then a smaller, but still noticeable one for a few
weeks after that, all through Christmas.  This was not as simple at all.

The one positive thing about the experience was after about an hour they came back and
told me they got everything in the first layer and they wouldn't have to take any more.
Thank goodness because if they had to come at me again with that numbing needle I would
not have been happy.  He had me look in a mirror so I could see what he took.  There was a
hole about the size of an M&M right on the bridge of my nose, between my eyes.  He
proceeded to tell me it wasn't that bad and that if I wanted I could simply let it heal.  I looked
at him like he had lost his mind.  Instead I chose to have him stitch in up.  In order to stitch it
up he actually had to cut out more skin to make what was a circle into more of a football
shape so he could make a straight line when he stitched it up.  When he was done he put
on a pressure bandage which is what I would be wearing for the next 2 days. Check this out.

Yep.  For the two days following the surgery I had to keep that thing on.  School drop off,
pick up...super embarrassing.  I was hoping if anything there might be some chatter on the
playground that I got a nose job.  ;)  On the 2nd day, I took it off and was able to see what
was underneath it.  A line about 1.5" long, closed with 7 stitches and 3 Steri strips on top.
 My nose was swollen and the swelling had moved into my cheeks and eyes.
You're welcome for the super sexy pictures.

Then today the Steri strips fell off revealing the stitches.

It's hard to tell what this is going to look like when it's completely healed, but I am actually
pretty impressed with what it looks like already.  From what it was when he showed it to me
in the mirror to this is a considerable improvement.  You can barely see the line down the
middle where the skin actually meets.  I'm optimistic that this might turn out OK.


The only downfall now is it hurts!!  I was actually surprised by how much it hurt.  It doesn't
help that I can only take Tylenol because Advil can make you bleed more.  Thankfully it's
getting a little better each day and I'm sure I'll be feeling better in no time.
What's most important is the skin cancer is gone!!  Yay!!

Elf-capades

Here are a few of the places the kids found Elfie when they woke up over the past month...

It wasn't Elfie's most creative year, but in "Elfie's" defense,

December seemed especially crazy this year. ;)

Miles is 18 Months

Is he really 18 months already??

Growth Stats

Height - 33 in. (72nd Percentile)

Weight - 22 lbs. 1.5 oz. (22nd Percentile)
Head Circumference - 18.75 in. (58th Percentile)

Miles is just as fearless and energetic as always.  He literally runs everywhere he goes.  It
doesn't matter if he is going 2 feet or down an entire block, he has one speed...sprint.  The
only problem is his little legs can't always keep up with his body.  He gets going so fast that
he looks like an Olympic sprinter at the end of the race where they are practically falling
over frontwards trying to catch their balance.  He runs, runs, runs, and then dives forward
when his legs can't keep up anymore.  He currently has a scrape on his face and on his
hand from these exact types of falls.  He falls hard and there is nothing I can do about it but
tense my shoulders, squeeze my fists and squint my eyes as I see it happening, praying
that he doesn't knock a tooth out.  The crazy thing is it doesn't slow him down.  He'll get
right back up and want to start running again.  At least one positive thing is with it being cold
out most of his body is covered with clothes, so we're saving his knees and elbows from
endless scrapes. 

Miles is learning to be a tough little guy growing up with two older brothers.  He runs around
and wants to wrestle right along with them.  He loves playing chase and running in circles
around the living room with them.  He also loves throwing balls or pretty much anything he
can get his hands on these days.  He'll wake up from a nap, come downstairs and
immediately grab something and chuck it at one of the boys trying to get them to play with
him.  My favorite is when he's getting excited and ready to attack. He takes a deep breath in
through his mouth as he pulls his lower lip in under his top teeth.  It's one of my favorite of
his expressions.  He also does it when he's really excited about going in for a big hug.  ;)

Miles is so sweet.  He loves hugs and blowing kisses.  One of my favorite things is when
Ryan comes home from work.  As soon as Miles hears the back door open he stops what
he's doing and yells, "dada!"  Then he runs to the back door and jumps right into Ryan's
arms.  He gets so excited and wraps his arms around Ryan's whole head and gives him a
big squeeze.  Then as he's hugging him, he'll take his arms and pat Ryan's back a few
times.  It is so sweet to watch.  And I know it makes Ryan's day.  Who wouldn't want to
come home to a greeting like that??  

And speaking of sweet, let's talk about this kid's love for sugar.  He has a sweet tooth that
could rival my own.  It is ridiculous!!  I can't even count the number of times where he comes
walking in from the kitchen with a Dum-dum sucker in his mouth that he stole from the
cabinet.  We have them locked, but if I forget to tighten the lock, he'll be the first one to
notice and take full advantage.  Then there's the pantry that we can't lock.  He'll come
walking out with the entire bag of marshmallows from in there.  If it has sugar in it, you can
bet Miles is going to love it.  Cookies, cake, ice cream, brownies...the list goes on.  If you
bring something towards him and he has even the slightest idea that you might be giving it
to him, he starts kicking his arms and legs and gets his wide open mouthed, quick
breathing, excited face.  It's kind of hilarious, but also crazy.  

Aside from the sugar, his eating habits are pretty good.  He loves starting his morning off
with one (and most times two) of the smoothies Ryan makes us in the morning.  It's great
because it's an easy way to get him some milk and yogurt since he won't have those on
their own.  He'll try most things we put in front of him and just spit it out if he doesn't like it.
It seems like he's slowing down on the amount he's eating these days because he'd rather
start playing and throw his food across the table, but that's pretty normal for this age.

Favorite foods - Anything with sugar!  Smoothies, dried strawberries, mac n cheese,
chicken nuggets, Bel-Vita breakfast cookies, Fig Bars, applesauce, pancakes, quesadillas

 Similar to how his eating habits are mostly good with a few flaws, his sleeping habits are
the same.  He is a great napper!  He still takes 2 naps per day, one in the morning and one
in the early afternoon.  It's the night time sleep that is giving us a little bit of a problem these
days.  He wakes up a few times a night, stands up at the end of his crib and cries.  All we
need to do is walk into his room, lay him back down, cover him up with his blanket and then
he goes right back to bed.  I say lay him back down, but really as we open his door and walk
towards his crib he just falls over and lays himself back down.  He doesn't need any
cuddling.  He just wants to know we're there.  I don't know what causes him to wake up,
and I don't know why he won't just close his eyes and go back to bed on his own, but it's
something we need to work on.  It's hard because if we let him cry, he wakes up the older
boys.  So a lot of time we go to Miles to let the others get a good night's sleep.

When he's not sleeping or eating, one of Miles' favorite things to do is to read books.  His
favorite is Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton.  He seriously LOVES it.  We read it
every single night.  And if you try to read another one, he'll push it aside and say "Baa."
When I need to get ready in the morning, I tell him to go into his room to read a book and
he's more than happy to sit in there for a few minutes paging through his books.  We read
the same few books every night, so he's actually started reciting parts of them.  He knows a
lot of the sounds in Moo, Baa, La La La.  And he knows that when Duck and Goose are
searching for their pumpkin he says "No!" at each spot they look.  It's really cute.

Favorite Books - Moo, Baa, La La La, Little Blue Truck books, Brown Bear, Brown Bear,
Little Red Barn and Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

All this reading is helping his vocabulary, or at least I'd like to think so.  I'm sure hearing his
brothers talk non-stop doesn't hurt either.  It's actually hard to keep track of all his new
words now because he repeats us so often.  I'm sure I've missed a few in my list.  He
doesn't say them clearly, but he's attempting them which is good.  One thing he says that I
have no clue what he is referring to is "BaBa."  He says it all the time and so matter of
factly.  The problem is he uses it at so many different times that it's hard to pinpoint what
he's meaning.  Maybe it's his default word when he doesn't know the real word to say.

New Words - Moo, Baa, La La La (yep, clear what book he loves), down, hi-ya, more, book,
raar, yeah, puppa (puppy or Grandpa), wawa (water), nack (snack), bath, nose, dog,
ha ha ha (in his best evil laugh voice - heard typically after he does something mischievous or tells us no)

Although it's exhausting keeping up with Miles right now, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  He
is so sweet and cute and he makes me laugh all the time.  If he learned to sleep a little
better at night however, I would totally be on board with that.  ;)

The Mac n Cheese Grilled Cheese

Introducing Joe's new creation...the Mac n Cheese Grilled Cheese.

His favorite thing is mac n' cheese and he loves grilled cheese, so it only makes sense that

he would want to combine the two.  In case you see this popping up on menus all over the

country, here is proof that it started here.  From the mind of a 4 year old.  I like where

your head is at Joe.  You're so creative and this was delicious!!

Maybe we have a little chef on our hands.

Retro Casserole Potluck - Part Duex

It's official.  With this year being the second year, the Retro Casserole Potluck is now an
annual tradition.  Retro outfits, old school casseroles...what's not to love??

I borrowed a dress from Katy, complete with a petticoat, and made scalloped potatoes and
ham (which, was a big hit!).  The Borders hosted it this year, and everyone had a great
time.  I'm thankful for such amazing friends and a fun new tradition to celebrate.