Baby Girl T --29 weeks

Finally I had Joe take a picture of my growing belly.  It is funny because I feel much smaller than with my first one but the doctor keeps telling me that she is measuring a little big....I feel good and JJ is getting very excited about his Baby Sister.  Except...he has already stated multiple times that he will not share his trains with her. :)

29 weeks.

 

 

 

JJ giving his Baby Sister a kiss

 

 

Happy Sunday Everyone!

A perfect 4th of July

This year we didn't do too much for the 4th of July but we did have a memorable one! We didn't really want to venture into too much traffic to see fireworks downtown, so we were just planning to watch from a higher location and seem them in the distance....but then my husband had heard of a non-advertised event taking place...pretty close to our house. 

We went with our neighbors and enjoyed dinner with our kids at one of favorite restaurants...we got done with dinner and about 5 mins later, we had a fireworks show from the beach!  It was awesome, I don't think we could have planned it any better.

As much as I get homesick sometimes...the memories we are creating are amazing!!

Fireworks on the beach....perfect end to a relaxing day!

 

 

 

 

And the video!

 

 

And JJs face....it was priceless, I don't think he blinked for 15 mins.  He looked like he wasn't enjoying them but when they were all over he said..."More Fireworks" over & over again!

 

 

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! 

 

Small World

I didn't realize that when I moved to the middle of the Pacific Ocean that the world would feel so small.  Two things have happened in the last two days that remind me of this.

Yesterday Joe had a dentist appointment and I knew that our dentist had studied in Wisconsin and was from Chicago.  So I shared that with Joe, we both said "small world". 

This morning, I ran JJ to his pediatrician.  He has swimmers ear....we have been spending lots of time in the water.  Anyway, as I am talking to his doctor I learned he got his undergraduate degree from Lawrence University in Wisconsin.  This is just blocks from a rental that we own.  He started talking about different places in Appleton, Wisconsin as well as throughout the state.  It was fun to talk to him today....also made me think "small world"

Week filled with water!

This week JJ started swimming lessons every other day.  When he was about 8 months he had started swimming lessons in Wisconsin but we had not started any since we moved to Hawaii.  We spend a lot of time in the water both at pools and at the beach, so I thought it would be important to get him in classes before the new baby comes.

JJ was a little freaked out at the start of classes.  He didn't want to pay attention or listen to his instructor. As the week continued, he has improved so much and I am so proud of him.  We have practiced so much and with repetition, he is starting to get more excited about what he is doing.  He loves water so much and until last night he would not put his own face in the water...but he did it!! 

We are off to the beach again today!  I have already been there 2 times this week and I will be back on Monday.  I know...tough life we live here.

I didn't take any pictures but my friend Karena did, so I hope she doesn't mind that I borrowed one :)  Going in for a bob with his friend Sophia.

Some other things that happened this week....

 

 

JJ loves letters and enjoys singing the alphabet song more than once a day.  We are no working on spelling.  We started with Mom & Dad and now he wants to know how to spell Lanie & Baby Sister.  Pretty cute! Below JJ is singing the ABCs but as you can hear...he does not welcome you to sing with him next time :)

I am not very good at updating baby belly pics ( I really only have two with JJ) But I have one below from 22 weeks with Baby Girl Teska.  I will have Joe take another one because I am now at 26 weeks.  I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going by.  I feel pretty good and I have begun nesting ....or just wanting to throw everything away :)  She kicks every morning, noon and night.  Very active just like her brother.  I was hoping this one might slow down a little bit but I don't think that will be the case.  My mom also booked her ticket to spend some time with us when she is born.  So grateful that she is able to make the trip and spend some time with us!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Aunt Debbi Comes for a visit!

Still catching up on my blog...Back in April/May we had a very fun visit with Aunt Debbi (Joe's Sister).

I didn't take many pictures but we did have a lot of fun and saw a lot of things. Usually I remember exactly what we did each day...but I am going to claim memory loss with my pregnancy brain.

We were very excited for Debbi to get here and since she was coming from LA (there for work) she got here pretty early in the day.  I had to make trip over to Whole Foods.  It is a beautiful drive through the mountains to get there.  We had lunch and headed back home.  Later in the day, we went to the farmers market to grab some cucumbers (they don't taste the same from the store).  We drove around a bit and then met Joe at home for dinner.

JJ got to show Aunt Debbi all of his favorite things on the island, plus some new adventures.  We went to Ko Olina beach (twice), rode the pineapple train, visited all the animals at the zoo and went on a new adventure to Sea Life Park ( JJ calls the "new aquarium").

Debbi also got to spend Sunday with Joe visiting Pearl Harbor and hiking up Diamond Head.  They had a lot of fun and took some great pictures.

We also visited a new coffee farm on the way to the North Shore.  The smell was amazing and I did wish I wasn't prego while visiting there. As we were leaving the coffee farm, I told Debbi that we were headed to the Dole Plantation and I called it a "tourist trap".  JJ heard me and of course like to repeat everything I say.  It was pretty funny.

JJ had a lot of fun playing Star Wars Angry Birds on Debbi's Ipad.  Joe then downloaded it to ours so he could play on his own.  Joe and Debbi both played to get all the levels for JJ.  For one day, Debbi didn't have level 12 and JJ had to keep reminding her that it wasn't on her computer. Debbi eventually got that level as well but it was fun to listen to JJ explain the difference to us over & over.

We had a wonderful visit!  Thanks for making the trip. JJ still calls our guest room "Aunt Debbi's room" :)

Ma...The Meatloaf

Jayden is a Daddy's boy and loves when Joe walks in the door from work.  He usually jumps, claps, and says "DADDY" in a very excited voice.(I do get my moments with him too..more when he is ready to cuddle).   Anyway, many times when he is playing with his Daddy or watching a movie he says "go, go mommy" and wants me to leave.  I usually use the time Joe is at home to clean, cook or do laundry so JJ enjoys some quality time with his dad.  But tonight I sat on the couch with JJ & his daddy and JJ said "go mommy....go cook!" Joe & I both started laughing.  It reminded us of the movie Wedding Crashers near the end when Will Ferrell's character says.."mom...the meatloaf"  Below is a clip just in case you need to see it.

A little laugh for the evening at our house

DOLPHINS!

So in my 34 years of life, I have only dreamed about being close enough to touch a dolphin or feed one a fish.  My 32 month old got to experience a great day of learning that ended with a chance to be up close to them...feed them and touch them.  A special thanks to the moms group that I belong to, our leader Mary had set all of this up for the families to enjoy!  This was at the Kahala Resort...just in case anyone is interested.

We started by learning about turtles and stingrays.  The kids listened to a  story about dolphins, so it got JJ very excited to meet them.

 

They got to pick an animal to hold during the lesson....JJ picked a crab...not surprised!

Jayden does not sit and listen for an extended period of time but when it comes to animals of any kind...he is very interested.



 

 

Learning about what is in the sand.....

 

Watching one of two stingrays being fed.  JJ would have jumped in if I would have let him.

 

A pretty waterfall at the resort

Next it was time to meet the dolphins...who is excited!!

Warning...there are a lot of pictures! 

We got to go on three different docks with our dolphin friend.  The first we learned some tricks, the second we go to look at the belly and tail of the dolphin and finally we were able to feed and touch the dolphin on the last dock.  JJ threw the fish right into his mouth.

When JJ first saw the dolphin, he didn't scream or clap, he made a high pitched sound like he was trying to talk to it.  He was loving it!

 

On the second dock, JJ wanted to go in the water....I had to stand back a bit with him.  He finally understood and said "Mommy it is too deep"

 

MY FAVORITE!! 

 

The dolphin was walking the same way as we did.

 

Saying Goodbye!

 

Group Picture.

 

Enjoying our snack on the beach.

This was one of my favorite days on the island.  I hope one day this boy realizes how lucky he is!