let's hear it for upright mobility!

I know it's only like 3 steps here...but she's getting there!

one year ago today...

Our little Jolee came into our lives. Two weeks early and catching her parents TOTALLY off-guard, but arriving quickly and safely.

As the baby of three girls...you can be sure that she is strong-willed, quite opinionated, and pretty darn tough. She gets hugged, tossed about, and plowed over on a daily basis. But because of all the attention, she also loves to be around kids. Loves to give wet kisses and cries when her sisters leave without her.

Unfortunately for me, though, she has a SEVERE case of separation anxiety. With mostly me...but recently has gotten much better with Mitch. I used to have to rush through my showers because she would scream with Mitch! Sounds like an exaggeration, I know, but trust me when I say, the only time I had the use of both arms was when Jolee was sleeping or while I was in the shower. She was quite literally my hip accessory!

Now, at ONE year-old, Jolee can:

• Almost walk. She's taken 2 steps on her own...but can cruise very swiftly along the couch
• Feed herself. Although she still hates baby food. She's pretty adept at gumming all the table food we throw her way! Her favorites are: Rice (of course!), corn, mangoes, papayas, bananas, noodles, and cheerios.
• Climb up and onto anything and everything in her way. Slides, stairs, the couch, the beds...she's our little monkey!
• Clap, sign "please" (cho-dai in Japanese), say "da-da", and make a funny face on "cue."

And despite my best efforts, she shows NO sign of easing up on the nursing...weaning this child will probably entail a lot of wailing, restless nights and patience. I just may have to extend the deadline back a month or two...or three...

So...to celebrate Jolee's turning ONE (along with little Luke who turned one on July 6th) we all got together for some sushi!

Really...is there any better way to celebrate a birthday?

To take a trip back to one year ago when Jolee was born, take a look here.

And for some more random pictures of the day, click here.

Happy Birthday to my little Jo-Jo!!

peek-a-boo

Jolee is one curious little bugger.

She is obsessed with the bathroom.

Which is why we always keep the door closed!!

Whenever someone goes inside and shuts the door...this is what she does. Often times, she'll not only peek in, but stick her hand through, wave, and talk to the person inside.

happy birthday, kela!!

My baby is 5 years old!!

Ok, so she's no longer a baby anymore...but being that she's my firstborn, she'll always be my baby.

Having said that, I can't believe she's getting so big!!

I can still vividly recall the day we brought her home from the hospital. How surreal it felt at the time that we were parents of a little girl!

Flash forward 5 years and here we are with THREE girls!

Oy! How did that happen?

We asked Kela what she wanted to do for her birthday and she kept saying she wanted it at the beach.

If you don't know me, you may not know that I'm not a big fan of beach BBQ's. I love the beach. And I enjoy BBQ's. But BBQ's at the beach?

Not so much.

Why? There's the sand issue, of course. And I like keeping things simple. Staying in one spot. Not eating here, playing there, going back and forth...etc.

Okay, I'm just lazy. But enough about me.

So, Kela wanted a beach BBQ and that's what she got.

We had it at Ft. Derussy. If there's one place that I will forgive a beach BBQ, it's Ft. Derussy. They have BBQ grills, a big grassy area, a playground, Waikiki beach right across the way, and clean bathrooms nearby.

As you can see by the pictures, the weather was actually perfect!

It sprinkled rain a tiny bit here and there...but without any clouds and with the sun shining the entire time! It was beautiful!

Mitch helmed the BBQ as always.

On the menu? Hamburgers (I seasoned and made them-none of those frozen pre-made patties here!), avocados (for the hamburgers, of course!), chicken wings, hot dogs, and cupcakes for dessert!

Yummy food, great company, and an all-around great day.

Oh, and to top it all off...

Fireworks to end the evening!

I wish I could say the fireworks were for Kela's birthday...but it was just the weekly firework display the Hilton Hawaiian Village puts on each Friday.

It was still a spectacular way to finish the evening!

For more pictures from today, check out our photosite here!

Happy Birthday, Kela!

the 4th

Happy Fourth of July!

This year we celebrated Independence Day in Waikiki at Airi's house.

Being that her house is RIGHT in Waikiki, close to the beaches and all the fun festivities, we really couldn't think of a better place or way to spend the holiday!

After the BBQ dinner we lit a few fireworks. I stayed indoors with Jolee and while Anna wanted to be where all the action was...she's still afraid of the noise so spend the entire time cowering under any sympathetic arm she could find. Kela, however, seems to have grown up this year to brave the flashes and crackles of the morning glories.

it's july?!?

Summer's half over? What happened to June?!

Time seems to be zooming by so quickly these days...

Last week was our ward's annual camp out at Bellow Air Force Station.

A military campsite we get to camp out at that has gorgeous beaches, cabins for rent ( but we stay in tents), and clean, working bathrooms with warm showers! Of course, we didn't actually camp out there this year...we just went up for a pot-luck dinner one evening.

Me, camping with a baby? I'm not so adventurous.

After a day of swimming, crab hunting and marshmallow roasting, the girls were beat! Not to mention, so were Mitch and I!

Ahhhh, Summer nights!

**************************
And on a side note...Jolee has learned to walk!

Assisted, of course...

(*try to ignore the blaring children's music in the video background...or I suppose I should say, foreground!)