a neat blog!

My friend Mari posted this on her blog...where ever do you find these?!
Anyway, the Make & Takes Blog is wonderful for craft ideas. Yea, if I had more time and/or energy, I just may actually do one of them...but for those who are itching for some great craft & food ideas for the family, you should enjoy this!

I'm also constantly checking the Best Parent Ever blog (also introduced to me by Mari)...just because it makes me laugh. Enjoy!

finally!!

This past week, we finally moved into our room! My handy-man of a husband fixed the remaining carpet and made a platform for our futon mattress so now we finally have a bed to sleep on! Yea! I know what you're thinking...futon? Yes, we've been living "Japanese Style" on futons for the past 2 years and I've had it! So, to no longer have to get up off the floor is WONDERFUL! Imagine being preggo and having to get up off the floor for the ump-teenth time in the middle of the night?! Feel sorry for me yet? :) Just kidding. It wasn't so bad until I started getting huge, so now I'm happy as can be! I then sewed some panel curtains from some remnant fabric I had on hand, which turned out to be thick enough to block out the sun quite nicely! :) Yea for not getting woken up at 5 am by the glaring sun!

It took us a while to finish because 1) Mitch was super busy with his training schedule, and 2) we weren't sure it'd be worth putting any more effort into the room! But, we found out that the new owners of this property won't be touching the property until around September so that gives us a couple extra months to relax and slowly look for a new place to move. I'm so happy to no longer have to "rush" into another house. So we can now concentrate on preparing for baby and looking for the right new place for several more weeks before the pressures of packing and moving "hits" us for real. Horray!

here it is...in all its glory

So, here it is! It's about as close to a belly shot as I'm gonna post. :)
So far, at (just shy of) 35 weeks, I'm about 41 inches around and 18 pounds heavier than my pre-pregnancy weight...although if you take into consideration the 7 lbs I lost in my first trimester, that'll technically put me at a total of 25 lbs. extra weight. And you'll notice I try to hide behind something whenever the camera is in sight...does the little pole in the bottom pic hide me? Hee hee, probably not. :)
As for how I'm doing otherwise, I have nothing in particular to complain about. I feel heavy and huge...and my belly jets out like a torpedo which can get strenuous on my back, but for the most part, I feel pretty good. Some tidbits:

• That scene in the movie "Alien" when you can see the alien crawling inside that guy's chest? That's my belly all day long.
• I'm never hungry. I eat because I know I need to eat, but I always feel full. Poor Mitch and the girls end up having to tell me it's time for lunch or dinner since it rarely occurs to me that it's time to eat. This the saddest thing for me, since I live/love to eat! :(
• By 5pm, I'm ready to hit the sack. But then come 11pm, I'm up and ready to go! Hence, why I end up staying up late to scrapbook and oogle over HGTV at past midnight...
• I live in the bathroom.

I'd post if I'm dilated, but have no idea. My last OB appt. was in May...terrible, I know! Mitch's new job transfer has put us in between insurances and come July, I'll be with a new OB (actually, my old OB that I had with Kela & Anna) so until then, I'm OB-less. I do, however, feel like I've gotta be at least at a 2 or 3...I have braxton hicks like crazy all day long. Here's to hoping baby comes a little earlier (but not too early, since Mitch will be gone for 2 weeks in July...yikes!)

a lesson learned...

Lately, I've been a bit stressed out. With Mitch working and/or studying all the time, Kela's preschool schedule to work my errands around, and then being extremely preggo and uncomfortable on top of everything else...my nerves have been borderline fried as of late.
For a while I was getting pretty "snappy" everyday & so I've started to make a concerted effort to not take this "stress" out on my girls - which is so much easier said than done! Yesterday, Kela did something-I can't even remember what it was, but it had something to do with teasing or not being nice to Anna (which happens to occur on a daily basis...). I scolded her, calm and without yelling-which by the way, was quite an accomplishment on my part, I think. Anyway, Kela cries, and cries, and cries. After a couple of minutes, I'm wondering...why is this girl still crying? I'm done scolding her!!
When I asked her why she was still crying, her response...? "I don't want you to be mad at me!" My heart just sank and I felt terrible! Am I such a terrible Mother that she's starving for my approval and love? Maybe I don't show it enough? I suppose I need to be more emotionally available to my girls, which (as sad as it may sound) has always seemed to be a bit difficult for me.
Either that, or I'm just beginning to find out how emotional girls can really be! And to think I'm going to have THREE of them come August! Someone must be telling me I need to learn a lesson here...

going incognito...

Ok, so I know that's the wrong use of the word...I just wanted a cool way to say I'm going private. Don't know why, but lately I've had an urge to make my blog a bit more private...Actually, Mitch has been asking me to do so since before I even started this whole blog thing. He's big on privacy.

So, I'm trying this whole thing out & it may just be temporary, but for now, I'll see how it goes.

I still want to keep in contact with all my family and friends, and so if you know someone who checks my blog that I've forgotten to invite, send me an email and I'll be happy to add 'em! Just want to make sure I KNOW all who "visit" me. :)

And, if it's too "humbug" to log in, sorry...you can still check out our family page here. It's not private and I usually update that every month. But, hope you still stop by to say HI and see "what's up" with us!

hal bbq

Hawaiian Airlines had their company bbq tonight at the Hawaiian Airlines hangar. It was actually pretty fun! The food was not that great (just burgers and hot dogs) but they had a bounce house for the kiddos and a cardboard cutout of a small plane. Too cute! Kela wasn't in the mood to take pics here, so we skipped her.
Plus, they had a real plane for us to tour. After a loooong (not to mention HOT) wait, we finally got to the cockpit where Kela and Anna got to sit in the pilot's seat and pretend to fly the plane. *ahem, don't mind Anna picking her nose in that shot...we were rushing and I wasn't able to re-take it. ah, kids.
Whew! The planes sure are much higher up than Mitch's old Island Air planes! :) And look at the huge jet engine! Rolls Royce makes their jet engines...fancy! Does that make it a "luxury plane?" Probably not...

anna singing her abc's...sort of.

Ok, well she skips quite a few letters and half the time, even she probably doesn't know what she's really saying...but she's still very proud of herself.

preschool time again!!

Temporarily, anyway. Mitch's Mom usually works at a preschool while she's here for the summers, but this year, she's only volunteering for one month. So, since she's helping them out for free, they said she could bring Kela with her whenever she wants! Yea! Jumped on that one right away! It's only 3 times a week, but I can leave her there until around 4 if I want...today, I kept her there until around 1, but since she seemed to enjoy it I think I just may take her up on that 4 pm pick-up. Plus she gets to spend time with Grandma which they both really enjoy. Kela loves her Grandma. She spoils her. But then again, isn't that what Grandparents are supposed to do?
So, while she was at preschool, I got to relax and do my exercising which I've seriously been slacking in since May. It was great! Although Anna was really sad to see Kela off. She cried and cried for 'em. I felt so bad for her! The entire time away, she kept saying she wanted to go pick Kela and Grandma up...Not really looking forward to tomorrow's drop-off.

*oh, and ignore the weird guy in the background of the picture. I was rushing with Anna waiting in the car & right when I snapped the pic, he walked by. Argh, timing!

anna's animal sounds

We have quite a few books and flashcards that we've been working on with Anna. She loves Animals and has gotten pretty good at recognizing most of the common animals and their sounds. Sometimes, she's off...but she's getting better. The flashcards that we bought for Kela are also coming in handy as she's also recognizing other things in nature like mountains, ocean (um, we have that everywhere here!), trees, rainbows, etc...

But animals she loves and always wants to read her animal books, which she has many of. Kela is a a great big sister and likes to help her with those said flashcards and books. Takes a load off of me! :) But mostly, it's cute to watch them together. The few times they acutally get along without fighting or arguing...!

best parent ever!

I was reading my friend Mari's blog and came across this in her links...hope you don't mind, Mari! I thought it was simply HILARIOUS!! I spent waaay too long reading it and am convinced that had I the financial resources, I'd be pretty close to one! But am happy to say that I'm currently pretty far from it (except for the Britax carseat part. And the breastfeeding part. And maybe a couple more...hee hee). I'm posting it cause I believe that most of my friends who read my blog will hopefully get a kick out of it too...since they are probably NOT a "Best Parent Ever" which by the way, is a compliment. :) Enjoy!

*BTW, I feel like I need to clarify...this blog site is 100% satire. Some of the reader's comments are a bit crude/crass at times, but if you look at the right side of the site, there's listed some criteria for being a so-called "Best Parent". It's completely sarcasm and purely for entertainment purposes only.

happy father's day!

Sundays seem to be our only relaxing day lately. And ours started off quite peacefully...I managed to make a simple breakfast for Mitch (pancakes & eggs...I know, too simple perhaps) and some rice for the girls (they asked for it!). After breakfast, I was supposed to make a dozen cookies to contribute to our ward's Father's Day treats. I swear, something is seriously wrong with this picture! We Mom's get a carnation, while all the Daddy's get a dozen cookies?!?! What's up with that? I say give the Mom's some treats!
Anyway, Mitch offered to make the cookies...I told him I'd do it (since it is for Father's Day and all!), but he insisted!! I think he just likes to bake...and he's very proud of his cookies. So, the girls helped him mix in the ingredients for his "famous" chocolate chip cookies, which incidentally happen to be the Mrs. Field's cookies recipe. (Yes, they are good, though!) Then, Kela and Anna got to lick the beaters...their favorite thing to do. I'm not much of a cookie dough person, but apparently, they are.

Happy Father's Day to all you Daddy's out there! What a wonderful day to celebrate our fathers and husbands. I find that I often forget and somewhat take for granted the blessing of having such a wonderful and giving husband. Anyone who knows Mitch will probably attest to the fact that he's always giving, humble, and sincere. He's true to his word and honest in all his dealings with others. He's patient and quick to forgive and forget (my opposite!). I know I'm lucky to have found such a man (and my family would probably agree! :) )

I thought Kela's face was hilarious here! Your guess is as good as mine as to what she's thinking in this picture! And don't mind my ginormous belly...yes, I got at least 2 or 3 comments on the size of it again today. And BTW, I still have 7 weeks to go, thank you very much!

Happy Father's Day!

honu!

Saturday afternoon we hit the beach (again). While Mitch was busy studying (as always lately), we headed out to the North Shore once again. This time, Hale'iwa. If you ever watched Baywatch Hawaii, you'll probably recognize the beach. I guess they filmed it here, but I never saw it, so can't verify. I just realized I didn't take a picture of the "famous" lifeguard house, so you may not even be able to tell...but anyhoo, the sun was hot, and the sand hotter. We only stayed out there for a little while since it was just too dang HOT!

Oh, and the title of this post, "HONU" means turtle. We saw about 5 or 6 of them swimming around, right up close to shore. My camera died, so this is about as good as I could snatch...not to mention that they came up for air for only a couple of seconds before diving right back down. My brother Atau was snorkeling and swam up pretty close...they didn't seem to be too afraid of people! So neat! Definitely the highlight of our day!
And here is what the boys caught while scavengering around the reefs. "Ewww..." is what Anna would say.

dinner out w/ the fam

It's midnight-ish and I can't get myself to go to sleep...what a waste of quiet "me-time"! Also, I realized I forgot to post these pictures from an outing a few nights ago.

We ate out with Mitch's family at, our usual dining venue: The Shorebird. (and, on a side note, Kela was smiling in the first shot, but since Grandpa had his hand on the flash, we had to retake, and she was apparently not in the mood to smile the second time around...)

And this is Mitch's twin Brian's family...

(on a side note, notice Collette -Bri's wife's- and my clothing color scheme...totally not planned. Maybe the whole twin-esp-thing is rubbing off on us...or maybe not)
Can you tell which one is which?

hee hee, I sure hope so! :)

evicted!!

Well, we knew the possibility was there...that the property we live on would actually sell. My sister's lot that our tiny abode sits on has been up for sale for a while. With the maket as it is, we were hoping no good offers would come up but just this past week, by some stroke of luck (or un-luck, depending on the perspective) a great offer came in & my sister and her husband have decided to take it! It's such a good offer, that I can't blame them for accepting it either. SO, we are sad to say that all the hard work (and money!) that we put into that back room has been for naught. Should the sale go through (which it most likely will), we will be homeless. Just kidding. Well, not really. We've been scrambling to find a new place and we've found a few good options that we're just narrowing down. As sad as losing out on our cute new room is, we are actually really looking forward to having a bigger space where we can stretch out and enjoy eachother (as well as some space apart, too! :) )

It's really crunch time for us, as I'm emotionally exhausted daily and Mitch is nose-deep in studying. And with the deadline approaching ever so quickly (the proposed closing date for the lot is the 15th of July), we really are scrambling! But, I must say, it's comforting to know that we have so much family near by to help and even if Mitch is non-existent most of the time, I have a lot of support...which has come in handy as I've felt like breaking down on more than one occasion in just the last 2 days! It also helps that each property we've looked at, Kela and Anna keep running around saying, "This is a NICE house! I want to live in THIS house!!" While I'm thinking on the inside, "Don't touch that! Keep your shoes on!" 'cause some of the places I've looked at were a bit creepy!!

It is exciting, though...and I'm really looking forward to having a bigger place to enjoy.

I'll be sure to post once we've narrowed it down and found a place!!

genious!!

For those of you who live in the mainland (contigious 48 states), this is probably commonplace. I've seen them at Babies 'R' Us in Seattle...but here in Hawaii, this just doesn't exist! And it should!

Saturday, we hit Hickam Air Force Base with Mitch's parents & did a little bit of shopping/browsing. I love going on Base here-reminds me of the mainland. So open and clean! :) Anyhoo-we get to the parking lot & it's a mad house...no surprise since it's a Saturday afternoon. We're looking for parking and Mitch screeches to a halt & backs up. Who knew such a stall existed in Hawaii!! (only on Base, I'm sure!) So, my current and "udderly" (just kidding, I know it's spelled with "t's"...pun intended) uncomfortable situation has proved useful for once! We get a pristine parking spot right up front, next to the handicap stalls. Ahem. A slight implication of similarity, perhaps? I couldn't disagree.

good food & fun

Saturday was a day we got to spend nearly all day with Grandma & Grandpa. First stop, some yummy shave ice. The girls like the rainbow, but this is what I always get. I know, it may look kinda kooky--but this shave ice has milk, chocolate, tapioca & mochi balls. #16 on the menu at Ice Garden. Don't knock it 'till you try it! Chocolate on shave ice is seriously SOOO good!

Then, it was the park again...Grandpa allowed Anna to sit on top of the play gym. My poor heart was freakin' out just watching! So, last night, I dreamt Anna fell off a tall building--sometimes, I feel like I need Valium or something for my paranoia!

summer break is here!

Kela has been going to a Mommy & Me playgroup/pre-preschool class for the past several months. The teacher, Mrs. Neill, is the sweetest lady who volunteers her time and often money to prepare little lessons and gifts for the kids. It's entirely free & hosted by a neighborhood elementary school where we meet inside the cafeteria once a week. Kela enjoys going every Thursday to Mrs. Neill's class. And, since Anna turned 2 in April, she started being able to participate as well & will get to be a part of the class come August when the next school year begins. Last week was the final class until the fall, and to celebrate, we had a pot-luck luncheon at the beach.
We were there for the entire day. And our pinkened skin is proof that the weather was beautiful and perfect for a day outdoors. I know, it seems like all we do here is hit the beach...but the truth is, there really isn't much else to do here when it comes to outdoor activities! There are sure to be MANY more pictures/posts like this as Summer has arrived and all of Kela's cousins are out of school. That is, at least until Summer School starts for most of them! Hmmmm...with Mitch nose-deep in his studying, I'm racking my brain for ideas on how to entertain the kiddos. Any ideas?

may 2008 slideshow

Ok, so I probably have too many of these family webpages...but I added a random compilation of pictures from the month of May onto my MSN Spaces page. Which is here.
I use this space to simply add pictures--nothing fancy. Just a slide show of pictures. Most are probably repeats from past posts, but there are a couple of ones that never made it, so if you want to, take a look.
The photo album goes back about 2 years or so...so there's also pics from waaaay back when. :)

you know you're big when...

Complete strangers come up to you to say, "Pretty soon, huh?" And inside, I'm thinking to myself...hey, I still have 2 months to go!

Tonight we ate out at the mall with Mitch's family and the guy behind the counter patted his belly, pointed to mine, and said, "Almost, yea?!" I proceeded to tell him that I still had 2 more months, and he looked at me with wide eyes, and says, "ohh, wow!" and then... no comment. Just a little chuckle. Hmmm...what's that supposed to mean?

Then just this past Sunday at church, a dear lady whom I see every week (that's your mom, Starr! :) ) walks by me and says, "Are you sure there aren't twins inside there?" I, of course, have to laugh because not only is this the 4th or so comment on my excruciatingly large belly I've gotten that day, but because I pretty much get this with every pregnancy. Right about the 7th month is when people start coming up to tell me that I've gotten huge all of a sudden-which is sadly true. This is about the time that I "pop" out. And I mean, really "POP"! But I also have pretty huge babies (Kela was 8 lbs 13 oz, Anna was 8 lbs. 4 oz.), so what can you do, right? And to think...I still have 2 months to go...and it ain't getting any smaller until baby actually comes out, so...

*Oh, and I seriously contemplated posting a pic of this ginormous belly, but decided against it. I'm sure I will one of these days before baby's born...I just have to work up the nerve. And no, I'll never be so brave as Rachel to post a "bare-belly" pic. Rest assured :)

almost...!

This past week was super hectic with Mitch finishing up the final preps for the carpet to get installed. He build a small step, finished painting and laid down some vinyl tiles under the washer/dryer, as well as hooked up the dryer duct outside. Whew! And then the carpet! Ok, you can only see it in the bottom corner of the picture...but we sort of mis-measured the size of the room and ran out of carpet!! Arghh! So frustrating! So, the room is all carpeted...except for that last little step. We'll just have to go get some more, but with Mitch beginning his new training tomorrow, it'll be difficult to get to the carpet store to actually get it!
It's so near complete, though! We just can't wait to hurry up and move in! Yea!

*oh, and on a side note...the paint on our walls wasn't really my choice. It's actually a funny story--When Mitch was 90% finished painting, I realized that...we hadn't purchased any interior paint! When I called Mitch's attention to this, he froze...and looked on the paint can...and sort of let out a "Arrghhh!" He had painted our interior walls with the exterior paint we had purchased! And since he was 90% done, we just figured oh well, and kept going. So now, our interior walls will be the same color as our exterior siding. Great!
And for those who know, the interior color of the rest of our house is also not the color I had picked out as Mitch forgot to take the paint swatch that I had chosen when he bought the paint...who just does that? He guessed, and our walls ended up a nice minty fresh green instead of a calming misty green. Kind of like lime sherbet actually... I swear, one of these days, I'll just have to take over the painting since Mitch has yet to get it right!! I say it's a good thing I'm not too picky! :)

grandma & "papa"

Every summer, Grandma and Grandpa (Mitch's parents) from Arizona come and stay for an entire 2 months! They just arrived this week and we headed out to the park for some fun and BBQ. The girls especially love being spoiled by their grandparents. Anna loves her "papa" and follows him everywhere...mostly because he spoils her and holds her everywhere.
Also here is Mitch's brother Brian and their family. You can see the girls playing with their little cousin Brighton. They love him...Kela seems to be a bit "motherly" these days. She was holding his hand while they were walking around the grass field, and down the slide a couple of times. She likes to say she's helping to take care of the babies....If only she was as "motherly" with Anna all the time! But, despite the fact that they fight here and there, she does help out quite a bit and loves to play "big sister" to Anna and her little cousins.