January 2012

Poor little Hallie Rosebud:(

She is not feeling herself the past few days.

Her last big molar is getting ready to pop through, and so I'm thinking this is what has caused the runny nose and slight cough.

She is sleeping more than normal during the day, but not near as well at night.

We finally got her off the night bottles, which has helped us all get more sleep.

It only took a night or two of her waking up, wanting it, fussing and falling back to sleep.

She now sleeps from about 9 or 10pm until around 6 am. It is so nice.

She has been saying more words lately.

She likes to pretend like she is talking on the phone, and will just jibber jabber. It is the cutest thing ever!

She can say "mama, mommy, daddy, bye, up", and tries to repeat things we tell her to.

She can point to every body part we ask of her, including her chin, elbow, knees, back(tries), eyebrows, and cheeks.

Her favorite food right now is quinoa, blueberries, and shredded non-dairy cheese.

She also is loving nuts (almonds, macademia, and walnuts). I crush them up and she gobbles them right up.

She loves the green Naked(brand) juice sold in stores.

We go on a morning walk almost every morning, and she likes to see the horses.

Joe started his job this week at Century 21 Real Estate, and is loving it!

He is already getting to go look at houses, and even got to be a part of a contract write up on his first day.

I am so happy for him, and I just know he is going to do great things in his line of work.

Jalen is doing good also. He still likes school a lot, and is striving to get all A's this trimester.

We told him if he succeeded in doing so, his reward would be that he gets to miss school for a day and go do anything he wants, within reason.

He recently competed in the Science Olympiads for his school. They came in 2nd place, and will go to Ohau for the state competition on his 13th birthday, March 3rd.

We are still loving life here, and have pretty much decided we do not want to leave.

It is my goal to be here part of the year, and be back in Kansas for part of the year.

We will probably continue to rent out our house on Slater, and keep the 80th street house for us.

My awesome brother Zach, who lives there now, will continue to live there while in Chiropractic school, and that way we have a place to call home when we return to Kansas.

I will be going back to Kansas more often than Joe, since he will be working.

I would like to spend at least a couple weeks, if not a month at a time there.

It is very important to Joe and I that our little family of 4 is happy where we are living, and enjoying life to the fullest. We feel we have that here in Hawaii.

There is so much to see and do and are a lot of "like minded" people here, which is a bonus and feels great!

It is also just as important to us that we keep in close contact with our family back in Kansas, and that our kids are raised around their Grandparents and cousins.

So, in an ideal world, we will be able to have both.

1st stroller ride, but still gonna wear this little girl

Babywearing is a term used when a caregiver, Mom or Dad or whomever, carries a baby or child in a sling/backpack/carrier of some sort which is attached to the caretakers body.

This practice is used by many who believe that their child is happier, cries less and it actually makes things easier for the caretaker to get things done with the child strapped in.

From day 1 of meeting little Sugar Bear, I put her on my chest.

We then wrapped her in a sling to carry her throughout the house, on outings, to help her fall asleep or whenever she needed to feel love and secure.

Babywearing has worked wonders for us! It really does keep you connected to your child in a way like no other.

The research shows that babies who are held often:

cry less
are more calm and content
sleep more peacefully
nurse better, gain weight better
enjoy better digestion(from being upright)
develop better(from the stimulation of human touch)

Weather it is to go on a walk, or doing household chores, the sling is the best place for my baby girl.

Up until now.....Its time to try the stroller......


The reason we finally decided to invest in a stroller was, I wanted to be able to exercise in the mornings when Joe is not home to watch her.

We felt like Hallie was old enough to understand the concept of us pushing her around, and also felt her brain was developed enough for the ride, so we purchased a jogging stroller from a garage sale for only $25!

The first time we put her in it, her Daddy took her for a ride around the yard.

He showed her the beautiful flowers, trees, and fruits on our property.

After their ride, he got Hallie out, and she kept signing "more"..

She loved it!

We now go on walks just about everyday.

She lasts about 30 minutes, until she starts pulling on the straps and wanting out.

Sometimes we take the Ergo baby carrier with us on our walks, and when she gets sick of the stroller, I put her in the sling and push an empty stroller.

I'm sure the cars driving by think I'm crazy, but that's totally fine by me.

Merry Christmas 2011!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

My family and I enjoyed our low key, laid back, Hawaiian Christmas.

I am so proud of Jalen for his performance as the narrator in the Christmas program at church.

He spoke so well, and got many compliments afterwards.

Santa was there to greet the kiddos, which Hallie was not a fan of.

She gave one look up at him, and started crying.

The outfit she has on was extra special. It was picked out by her Daddy, and was mine when I was a little girl.

Christmas Eve morning, we went and had a great brunch at the St Regis Hotel here in Princeville.

It was fun to feel like we were out of town.

We got to sit outside, with a beautiful view of the mountains and the blue ocean.

Little birdies were chirping all around us, and the service was phenomenal.

About half way into our breakfast, Jalen noticed 2 famous guys sitting right next to us.

It was 2 of the Jonas Brothers, a pop band.

I snapped a pic, and they were off...

We enjoyed the buffet, which was filled with fresh Hawaiian fruits, breads, muffins, rice, potatoes, an omelet station, pancake/waffle station, bacon, sausage, and much more!

After the wonderful brunch, we went home and put little Sugar Bear down for a nap.

While she slept, I had to go run and pick up the big present I got for Jalen and Joe.

I headed into the town of Hanalei, where we do most of our shopping and hanging out.

I couldn't believe how busy it was!

There were people everywhere, laughing, conversing, dancing, and just having a good ol' time!

After I picked up the rather large gift, I called Jalen to see if he wanted me to come pick him up so he could come down to Hanalei to hang out.

He did, so I went and got him.

We sat outside, and listened to the Hawaiian band playing, and did a little shopping.

Joe text when Hallie woke up, and they headed down to meet up with us.

Later that evening, we enjoyed a spread of appetizers, and chocolate fondue for dessert.

We let Jalen open 1 gift, as that is a tradition, and he NEVER forgets..

He opened the gift from Kelly, Jamie, Kayla, and Arlie.

It was a dog tag necklace, he liked it a lot.

After setting out milk and cookies for Santa, and water for the reindeer (hehe--Jalens idea), we sent Jalen to bed, and put Hallie Rose down as well.

Joe and I hung out for a while, then we were off to bed.

The next morning, we got a text from Jalen, asking if we were up, and if he could come out of his room.

He, of course, was anxious to see what "Santa" had brought him, and wanted to open the rest of his presents.

He got a surf board, ukulele, 3 prong spear fishing pole, new knife, and more..

Hallie wasn't so into it this year.

She wanted to just play around as we all opened gifts.

She got her very first baby doll, a stuffed doggie purse which we named "Rosie", and a few other little items.

Joe had the kids make me a jewelry box, which I absolutely LOVE!

Jalen made it all himself, glued, sanded and painted it.

Then he had both the kids put their hand prints on the inside.

To go along with the jewelry box, he got me a beautiful pair of earrings. They have a little plumeria flower hanging from them, and are white gold.

I got him and Jalen a mini motorcycle, which is a fixer upper, so it will be a project for them to work on together, as well as have fun riding it up and down our street.

I also got Joe a Go Pro camera, and a pair of reef flip-flops.

I would say we all did pretty well this year:)

After the gift opening, I made cinnamon rolls.

We ate them up, and played around the house.

The Christmas music was on, the sun was shining, and we were thoroughly enjoying our first Christmas in Hawaii, as a family of 4..

Later that evening, we were supposed to have a fish dinner with mashed potatoes and cheesy corn bake.

We decided we were too full, and wanted to wait until the next night to do our dinner.

We headed down to Hanalei Bay beach to hang out and make a fire.

There were a lot of people at the beach, all happy and cheerful.

We wrapped up our night around 8, and headed home to relax and go to bed.

We all feel so blessed to have the opportunity to be living in Hawaii, spend Christmas here as a family, and bond like never before.

We pinch ourselves everyday, and thank God for all the wonderful blessings he has given to our family.