basking in the winter sun...

Here we are at White Plains Beach (or, the campground right next to it) with Airi and Elika and their family. The weather has been so nice, we've been wanting to hit the beach for quite some time now & since Airi suggested it, we decided to go! The waves are always a bit bigger and stronger on the West side, so we didn't go swimming...just played in the sand and got our toes wet. And since we got there after 3 pm, the sun wasn't too hot. Fun was definitely had by all!

Jolee is still getting over her sniffles, so she didn't go in the water at all. I let her roll around on the blanket until she discovered the sand & kept wanting to eat it...mostly I held her-and even walked up and down the beach with her. My exercise for the day. :)
Just a few other pics of Daddy and Kela & then Anna.
He's always the one in charge with making sure they don't get swept away...

And then, at the end of the day...Anna slept like this until around 11 pm. Finally woke her up, ate some (extremely late) dinner, took a quick hot shower and went to bed (at 1 am).

Whew! What a long day!

my genious husband!

The other day, I cleaned up the girls' toy room. Since I didn't have a big box to throw the rubbish (trash) into, I decided to use my small (it's PLASTIC, mind you!) wastebasket from under my craft desk. I didn't think anything of it until last night as I was making a card for my friend's daughter's birthday party today...I noticed that my wastebasket was missing! I asked Mitch about it and it was as I had feared. He had thrown it away!

Apparently, since it had rubbish in it...it must be rubbish too?
How annoying! What was he thinking?!?
Obviously, he wasn't.

** Update: Since I complained to everyone that would listen, Mitch went out and bought me a brand new wastebasket. And for the record, it's way cuter than the one I had before. He's been redeemed. :)

the birthday boy!

My cute nephew turned one this week! Yippee for Kashus!!

So, we had our usually family get-together to celebrate the little guy's big day...er, it was actually 3 days late-but to a one-year-old, does it really matter? Anyhoo-here's some pics of the celebration.

The yummy cup cakes I made for the lil' guy. Don't mind the "chicken-scratch" writing...I'm no cake decorator, so when one puts me in charge of cake, this is as good as it's gonna get.
And, for the life of me, whenever I see these two next to each other, I just can't help myself! I HAVE to take a picture of them together. They're just so dang cute together!



P.S. HA! I beat you to the post, Elika! :)

6 months already!

Whoa! I know I say it every month, but seriously! Time is flyin' by!

Little Jolee is now 6 months old. I was reflecting back to the day of her birth and it feels like it was just yesterday! Waking up early in the morning extremely uncomfortable, not sure if I was really in labor (it was 2 weeks early), then after my bag broke, rushing to the hospital worried we wouldn't make it in time...ah, the memories! Everything just happened so fast that I can't even remember all the details! It's all a blur...could it be age? Or simply the busyness of having 3 kids to chase around? Hmm..who knows?

I'm just so happy and feel so fortunate (and at times, still in disbelief) that we are the proud parents of 3 healthy little girls. Truly, we are blessed.

So, Jolee is now 6 months old.

She...

• Weighs 16lbs 5oz.
• Recently found her toes...and is mesmerized by them.
• She isn't taking to solid foods very well...still working on maneuvering the food into her mouth instead of spitting it out.
• Army crawls EVERYWHERE! Never stays put. Even gets on her knees and bounces around-like a frog.
• Loves her thumb. Sucks it all day long.
• Still no teeth, but sure drools a lot! Pretty soon, I'm sure.
• LOVES her sisters (and they love her, too). Her face lights up when Kela and Anna get near her-and talk in their "high-pitched voices" that most adults tend to do. It's sweet.
• Is quite happy-go-lucky. Shows off her toothless, dimpled smile all day long! As stressful as it is having 3 kids, her sweet spirit sure does make it easier to bear.

catching up..

Meet my Uncle Bob & Aunty Hiroko. In case you couldn't tell...Aunty Hiroko is my Mom's sister...and they flew in for a little vacation last week. It's always so great having family stop through here for a visit. Amazingly, Kela and Anna (as well as all the other cousins, too!) took to both of them really well! This day, we took them to a little Okinawan restaurant in Waikiki...and topped off the afternoon with some yummy shave ice from Waiola's. Mmmm...a great afternoon!

Also last week, on Mitch's day off, we hit the beach yet again. While Mitch took Kela and Anna into the water, I walked around the beach park with Jolee (trying to somewhat train for the Aloha Run coming up next month!)

After my walk/jog, we relaxed on the beach for just a little bit. It just so happened to be Jolee's very first time touching the sand-which she was fascinated by, of course! I didn't put her into the water this time...today was just a short intro to the beach world. Her full-blown initiation into the ocean will just have to wait.

daddy's day off

Now that the Holidays are technically over, Mitch's schedule is lightening up...ever so slightly. I know, I really have no right to complain considering he works in one month what the average person works in around 2 weeks...but that's beside the point.

Okay, back to Mitch's day off-

I got in a much needed jog while Mitch relaxed with Jolee...although technically, he didn't get to relax as much as he wanted to since Jolee kept drooling all over him.

And then we hit the beach in the early evening. A sunset swim? Mitch splashed around with Kela & Anna while I took Jolee for a walk around the beach park...and then joined them at the end. Despite how it looks in the pictures, it was really a nice, hot day!

We ended the day meeting up with my brother and sister and their families for dinner at a Japanese restaurant...imagine 18 people (6 adults, 10 kids & 2 babies) eating together at a LONG table. I was a bit too pre-occupied to snap a pic, but I'm sure we were ridiculously loud and slightly obnoxious for our neighbors. But the kids had fun & Mitch and I were exhausted!

it's a christmas miracle!

Well, techinically, Christmas was almost 3 weeks ago...but considering my nieces and nephews are still on their "Holiday Break" I consider this close enough to Christmas. What's the miracle, you ask?

Behold!

Yep, that's Jolee taking a bottle. From Mitch. Without a peep, mind you! Out of the blue, I decided to bust out the pump and give it a go...and Lo and Behold! She took it! I was literally in tears watching our little girl drink out of a bottle...something she hasn't done in - I don't even know, 4 months or so?

Wonder why I'm so excited? Let me refresh your memory.

Anyhoo-it's only been one time, but I'm cautiously optimistic. Here's hoping (PRAYING) for continued success in the bottle-feeding department.
* Not to mention FREEDOM for Mommy!!

3 weeks later...

The girls' Christmas present from Santa is finally painted and ready to use! The girls picked out the colors all by themselves (I'm channeling "The Little Mermaid"...) and Daddy helped them prime and paint their brand new table and chairs! It took a bit longer than we anticipated since Mitch has been working a lot during the Holidays, but now that it's all done, they are THRILLED at the end result!

lil' miss mover & shaker

At 5 1/2 months, Jolee's definitely our earliest crawler.

Granted, it's still "army-style" and pretty slow...

...ok, so it's more like scooting...

Most of the time, I'll leave her on the middle of the blanket & when I return, she's usually somewhere completely OFF the blanket. Near the couch, by the T.V, tipping the basket of wipes over & one time about to munch on Anna's shoes...needless to say, our shoes are now neatly stowed away in a basket, as is any small object that poses a chocking hazard. Time to baby-proof the house yet again!

hana-butta

For those not familiar with Hawaiian pidgin, "hana-butta" is what you see bubbling out of Jolee's nose.

:)

dr.horrible

I discovered this the other night while internet surfing (aka wasting time...) and thought it was just hilarious!

If you like musicals, or comedy, or comedy musicals, you'll enjoy this!

A direct link:

http://drhorrible.com/mushortio.html

how much t.v is too much t.v?

So, she doesn't have all the words correct. But still...

1st food. 1st new year!

My little baby is just growing up waaay too fast!

This week, we decided it was time to spice up Jolee's daily menu. We added poi. We only gave her a tiny bit...and she didn't seem to not enjoy it. However, I think eating solid foods from a spoon will take some getting used to. As expected, she made a mess.

Then of course, last night it was off to my sister Airi's for the New Year's celebration. New Year's Eve also happens to be Jonas' birthday, so we all celebrated Jonas turning the BIG 1-2! You like the cheesecake tarts instead of a cake? I made those...yum! (if I do say so myself!)

And as always, my girls were excited about the fireworks...until they started popping, that is. You can see in every picture, they have their ears covered. Anna was okay with just covering her ears, but Kela started crying about 5 minutes into the festivities...needless to say, we stayed outside watching the fireworks display for only 6 minutes or so.

Jolee was the bravest one-she was absolutely mesmerized by all the bright sparks and noise! And, wouldn't you know it, they ALL lasted late enough to ring in the new year!

(that's my girls, for 'ya!)

And, here's little Luke and Jolee. Rolling around the floor and taking turns taking swings at eachother while the adults sang some Karaoke. It was open mic night and we all had a blast singing the night away~!

Ahem, can you see Luke taking a bite out of Jolee's head? I thought that pic was just too funny.