Memorial Day at Ko'olina

Today we headed to Ko'olina to hang out with the Buelows. The kids were great- so independent, marching around, playing with each other and testing the water- totally allowed the moms to relax and chat and the dads got a few rounds of backgammon in. Makaela was testing out her new Dora kickboard in the picture. It's amazing how much they have grown. It was a very relaxing day and to top it off, we headed out to Chuck's to celebrate Mark's birthday.

Kaela and Gavin this weekend.Gavin and Makaela summer of 2008.

Our lazy Saturday

After having a farewell BBQ for Mel that lasted well into the wee hours of the morning, Saturday ended up being a lazy day. We slept in late, hung around the house not doing anything in particular and then took a family nap. It was one of those days that makes lounging in bed fantastic. Makaela entertained us after our nap and then prompted us that we had to go to the beach to see Hailey and Kailee. We wanted to hang out with the MacDonalds one more time and get the girls together again before the MacDonalds headed to Germany :-( Kaela had a great time following Hailey around the pool, the hot tub, etc.

Here is video of Makaela goofing off after naptime. She was trying to give us a mean face to express how serious she was about getting to the beach. Didn't work so well.

Here is video of Matt messing with her. She is so adorable when she is in her goofy mood.

Work, then play

We spent the day cleaning house, painting the outside of it, reorganizing the garage (yuck) and cooking to prepare for a BBQ we were having at the house to say "aloha" to Mel before she headed back to the East coast. It was amazing how much we got done in such a short amount of time- we felt pretty accomplished and were definitely ready to relax. Plenty of people showed up and we had a great time letting the kids run around, eating good food and playing lots of games. Here Makaela's rendition of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" with Gavin playing percussion. Sorry, it's kind of difficult to hear her, but when she gets to a part she doesn't know she just babbles some undecipherable words until she gets back to a part she knows.





Makaela, Auntie Mel and Abby.

Saying Aloha to our Extended Ohana

Hawaii is paradise, but what really makes it paradise for us is having such close friends, friends that have truly become family members. We all started out as single transfers from the mainland and have partied hard (nothing beats the old Lewers street), celebrated many marriages (9 and counting), countless holidays (real family style eating), welcomed our new additions (13 keiki and 5 more on the way) and have been there for each other through many ups and downs. While we have been continually growing, this summer, some of our close friends will be moving on to new adventures in new places: MacDonalds in Germany, Stampfers in NY, Melanie in PA, and Kris and Chris to Big Island. We got together for a party to say farewell and there were 46 of us. Everyone will be missed and I'm not sure how Makaela will deal with missing her playmates, aunties or uncles.

After all the picture taking, the kids ripped off their dressy clothes and hit the sand. Makaela got her first kayak ride and now fascinated with boats.

Reading

This past weekend, Monica and I took the kids to the Baby Expo. As much as I was trying to avoid spending a lot of money, I was wow-ed when the creator of My Baby Can Read was demonstrating how little kids could use their working memory in order to build literacy skills. So, I bought the entire package and vowed I would get Makaela doing it everyday until she could read independently. So far so good. She is enjoying working with the cards and can sit through most of the DVD before getting bored. We have been at it for three days and here are some of the results. Mind you, this is only memorizing sight words (not truly decoding words), but it's a start and we are so proud of her.

Chef Makaela

Makaela is following in my footsteps in the cooking area. This evening we made a sausage and pepper stromboli (otherwise known as a calzone in NY). It was a great meal to have her help with because it allowed her to play with the dough, mix and scoop. It was a new recipe and it turned out great, however, our little chef chose not to eat it. What is that expression, "don't trust a cook who doesn't eat her own food?"

Friday's Update

Today was a very scary day. I was running errands and started bleeding. We rushed to the hospital and luckily at this point in time, the baby is still doing well. We got another ultrasound which helped soothe our worries, but doctors are concerned with how I am doing, so I was told to stay off my feet and get lots of rest this weekend. That is kind of difficult when you have a 32 month old running around. I have to go back for a follow up appt next Friday. Here are pictures of the baby. We were seconds away from finding out the sex, but when the resident found out we were trying to plan a gender party around it, felt a little nervous about his gender prediction skills. We thought it would be better to wait until we had an ultrasound tech.
front view of baby- you can see the face, eyes, rib cage and belly

Funny human bath tricks

Matt was bathing Makaela tonight when I hear her yelling, "Come mama"- I run upstairs to find her new bath trick.
She has managed to find a spot on her body for all her bath toys. She's pretending to be a mermaid...as long as they are toys on her body and not sushi, we're ok.

Mother's Day 2010

Today was a very lazy day which was perfect. Yesterday we scrubbed the house, so the family was pretty tired. Matt let me sleep in and then he and Makaela brought me blueberry muffins in bed. I also haven't been feeling well since my doctor's appt, so instead of heading out for a hike, we opted to just hang out in the house. We played for a while before hopping back into bed, watching a movie and then taking a long family nap. When we woke up, we took a family walk to the park. It was such a calm day...exactly what this busy mom needed.

My early Mother's Day

Today was a packed day. I dropped Makaela off at preschool and then headed to our first OB appt. Matt met me there and we got to hear our baby's heartbeat. Everything looks and sounds great so we left feeling very good. Unfortunately, we didn't get an ultrasound, but oh well. Then we had to run some errands to prepare for Matt's departure, one of which was to head to Satellite City Hall to register the cars. First though, we headed to California Pizza Kitchen for a quiet lunch. As we started towards city hall, Matt lead me in a different direction. We ended up at Mind and Body Spa, a few doors down from the city hall office and I had an appt for a massage and facial package. It was heaven. When I was done, I picked up Makaela, we headed for our Friday afternoon tradition: frozen yogurt at Orange Tree and then home. Matt surprised me again with a babysitter and we headed to PF Changs for dinner. We were so exhausted though, we opted out of a movie and just decided to go home. It was a great pre-Mom's day.