Furlough Friday #2

Matt and I got up with Abby and relaxed with Abby for a while an took her to daycare right before her morning nap and then headed off to Hawaii Kai. We hiked Mariner's Ridge which was beautiful and just enough difficulty that I felt like I got some exercise but not too hard. The views were absolutely amazing! After we went out for a nice little Greek lunch. I needed a gyro fix and it was perfect.

Matt picked up Abby and Lis and I got a chance to catch up over a fabulous pedicure. It was a great way to spend my last day of being 29!

4 Months

Today I am 4 months pregnant with baby #2 and it's my 30th birthday!

Pictures from Bellows Beach

Chris took tons of great pictures when we were camping at Bellows. I added some of my favorites.









≈

Carving Pumpkins

We got our pumpkins last weekend at the pumpkin patch and I was determined not to let it get to Halloween uncarved. Matt and I figured out it had been 5 years since we carved pumpkins. Wow, how times have changed. Back then we had quite a few beverages and lasted until the wee hours of the morning with Chris and Matt R.

Tonight, however, we had a little picnic in the back yard and carved pumpkins with Abby. She sat in her bumbo and played as we carved the pumpkin. I was so impressed. She barely even ate any grass. It was such a nice evening and it was great to be outside. I even baked the pumpkin seeds..yummy!!

Happy Halloween..experimenting with my camera settings:)


Jack and Abby


Picnicing


Abby watching daddy


The final carving!

29 years difference

I was taking pictures of Abby today and as I was walking her up to bed I realized that I had a similar picture of myself on my 1st birthday. The only resemblance I can see is the pumpkins and the color of the shirts.

Computer Junkie

Abby loves the computer already..next she'll have her own facebook account..watch out!

I Can't Believe I am Turning 30!

I was pleasantly surprised by my wonderful husband and friends Friday night with a surprise party. After the shock wore off, everyone started to share how they almost blew it..after I went through the chain of events I really couldn't believe that I didn't suspect anything. Usually, I am not that clueless. The only thing I can think of is that I was in denial about turning 30 and so it didn't even occur to me that there would be a surprise party:).

Denial or not my birthday is coming and being surrounded by my family and friends in Hawaii is a great way to get the year rolling! We had a really nice dinner on the beach and got to enjoy the kids taking over half restaurant. Here's to another great year and all that it will bring us..especially our little boy!

The Keiki


Happy Birthday Mom!


It's official (almost)


The Martins


The Hawaii Crew

The Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of the year! No fall leaves or brisk, cool air but October non the less. We went to the local farm that has a pumpkin patch to pick out a pumpkin and take advantage of the photo opportunity. We ended up skipping the hay ride due to the extreme heat and dust combination. Abby had just woken up from a mini nap as we pulled up to the pumpkin patch. I don't think she cracked a smile the whole time we were there of course. She did get to climb on some pumpkins and we attempted to get some pictures with her and her friends but we weren't very successful.

Race for the Cure

Lisa, Steph and I got up at the crack of dawn to head down to Kapiolani Park and do the Susan B. Komen Breast Cancer walk. I have always wanted to do a breast cancer walk, especially since my Grandma Ginny was a breast cancer survivor (unfortunately she wasn't so lucky with stomach cancer). My goal is to someday do the 3 day walk but the 5k was a good start. Although after my knee was sore after the 5k I might have to rethink that. I am getting old! It was pretty crowded but I am glad we did it. We miss you Grandma!

A Special Present from Grandpa

Grandpa Martin had been working on a top secret special project for Abby and we just received it in the mail yesterday. He made her a little step stool that is decorated with Caldecott Award winning books. Abby already is learning how to climb on top of it and using it to boost herself up to the couch. It is such a thoughtful and unique gift. We will cherish it forever. Thanks Grandpa Martin!

Big Girl Food

Last week I finally decided to try and give Abby some big girl food for her whole meal. We have been giving her bits and pieces of what we eat but last weekend she had a full day of non baby food and loved it. It takes a little longer and it a bit messier because not everything make it to her mouth. It is just another step and reminder of how fast she is growing!

It's Time for the Baby Gate

Abby is getting more and more active every day. Yesterday I went upstairs to put laundry away and Matt was downstairs with Abby while she was playing. After a few minutes I came downstairs and as I rounded the first flight of stairs I saw Abby with her hands on the landing and her little legs on the top step. She looked up at me smiling and all I stood there for a minute stunned. I called to Matt and he came around the corner and looked at Abby with a big (guilty) smile on his face. "Who was supposed to be watching this kid?!" was all he had to say for himself. After I picked her up we both laughed hysterically- thankful she was okay and surprised at how big our little girl has gotten and what trouble she can be. It was not even a month ago that her Autnie Lisa and Uncle Rich taught her to climb one step when they babysat her. Needless to say it only took a few moments for Matt to get the baby gate up.

Camping at Bellows

Camping at Bellows was a great way to end our October break. Abby did pretty good and managed to adapt to sleeping in her stroller and in random places for the most part. We only camped one night but got to spend two full days at the beach. We left just before the heavy rain on the last night. It would have been hard with Abby and we were happy to be home in our beds.

Abby spent the day playing in the water, chilling in the pack n play and hanging out with her friends. She did manage to ingest a good bit of sand but it was bound to happen so I didn't worry about it too much. Matt and I got to enjoy the sun and shade and hang out with our amazing friends. The weather was beautiful during the day and the water was perfect. We all had a blast and hope it is a tradition that continues. We are very blessed to have such great friends that have become our family and who are also adventurous enough to try camping with the kiddos.

Waikiki Get-Away

Matt, Abby and I took a mini vacation to Waikiki and stayed at the Ilikai, which has surprisingly nice accommodations from the looks of it outside. We got to relax and enjoy the scenery. We took Abby to the pool and played in the lagoon right out front of the Ilikai and Hilton Hawaiian Village and took lots of long walks. Abby enjoyed the dinner show at Kobe and we enjoyed the food! Our second night we went out for Thai, which I have been wanting to do forever and it was yummy as always. It was nice to get away but nice to come home too. Abby can only sleep in her pack n play in the bathroom for so long:)

12 Week Ultrasound

We got our 12 week ultrasound done last week and the doctor hesitantly told is it was a boy. The nurse was pretty confident but the doctor said he never "guesses" and then made some off hand comment that indicated it was a boy. So we are assuming it is a boy until we hear otherwise and trying to come up with names...no luck yet.

The nurse told us that the baby was almost 4 inches already and Matt, who was playing with Abby, looked up and said, "already!? This one grew way faster than the first." Oh dads:)

The most important thing is that the baby is healthy and everything looks good. We go back for the second ultrasound November 3.


This is the one that that indicated it was a boy:)



Cute little feet..they are about a centimeter

Cleaning out the Closets

I cleaned out my closet today and took out all of my cute fitted clothes and moved in all the stretchy maternity clothes. In some ways it is exciting because I know what to expect and there are lots of things to look forward to but in other ways I am thinking, "I can't believe I am doing this again and I still have 6 months to go". I saw very pregnant woman the other day and it hit me that it that would be me soon too.

I also cleaned out Abby's closet this morning. It was so sad to clean out all of Abby's old clothes. I moved out all of her little dresses and her 3-6 months clothes that I still left lingering in there just in case I could squeeze her into it one more time. The thought of putting these away and not using them again is hard for me to imagine. Although Matt remains firm that two is enough. I am still holding out hope for the lottery so we can afford the two we will have and more!

The Growing Belly

So for all of those asking if you really start showing earlier with the second...my answer would be YES! I just checked my belly pictures from when I was pregnant with Abby and I am definitely bigger now than I was at 3 months with her. The white shirt is my first pregnancy at 3 months and the black shirt is the second. You can also see the difference in the backyard. It has matured a lot. Thanks to all Matt's hard work!

October break is here!

It has been a very long year already for Matt and I think he has been looking forward to break since his first day with his kids. Needless to say he is very happy to be on break for a while. He picked up Abby from daycare while I stayed at work late to finish up revisions on my proposal. They set up a really nice picnic at Pokai Bay and we just hung out and watched the surfers and listened to some live music at Rest Camp, the restaurant nearby.

Saturday morning after Abby's nap we headed to the water park with the Buelow's. Mark and Matt went on all the big slides and Gavin and Abby played in the kid part. Steph and I went on one slide but with her back and me being pregnant we weren't too thrill seeking. The best part was the lazy river. We got to float along in the tubes and Abby loved it (so did we of course). She splashed around and stuck her feet in the water. She also got to people watch, which is one of her favorite hobbies.

We are off to Waikiki for the next two days and looking forward to some beach time!