A Night Out

I have been waiting for the day when Zack was consistent in his schedule so that we could put the kids down and have our neighbor Melissa, who is a Junior at Kamehameha (i.e. responsible), hang out at the house while the kids slept so that Matt and I could go out.  I have mentioned to Lisa a few times that I was dying for a chocolate souffle at Roy's and some good wine and being the fabulous and grateful friend that she is she got a a gift card for Roy's at Ko'Olina to thank us for handing down Zack's clothes.  It was so nice and thoughtful..Claud your gift is in the mail ( soon!).

Matt and I had a great evening.  We put the kids down by 7 and were out the door by 7:05.  We had a great couple of hours to enjoy each other and were home in time to get decent sleep (which is key to a night out...it is no fun for anyone if you are exhausted the next day!).  If Melissa is game, we are hoping to make it a monthly thing.  It worked out perfectly for us and I think she got to hang out and play on her computer and watch movies so it was a win-win situation.

Beach Picnic

Sometimes it is easier, and way more fun, to be out of the house.  Matt called on my way home and suggested a picnic.  I picked up Subway, a family fav, and we packed up and headed to the beach across the street for an afternoon picnic.

Here are some fun pictures from our afternoon.  It is hard to have a bad beach day and even harder to believe that we are planing to leave this place some day!

Makaela's Dora and Diego Birthday Party

Dora and Diego are huge favorites of most of the kids now so they loved Makaela's themed third birthday party at the zoo.  The kids decorated backpacks (amazingly, Abby did not draw on her dress!), checked out all the animals, played on the swings and had some delicious cake!  Thanks Hoffmans for a fun day.

Zack and I watching the kids make their backpacks

Abby playing in the Spooky Forest

All of these pictures of the girls were so cute I couldn't choose which one to post...

 

Loving the jungle gym

Zack chillin' after a long day

Class Pet

Matt brought home the class pet, a Jackson Chameleon,  from one of the other science teachers to show Abby.  She loved it and wanted to hold it all weekend.  Initially, Matt told her she could just look...silly daddy!

She immediately wanted to hold it and she referred to it as a lizard  it sounded something like Lleeezooo)  She comes up with some interesting pronunciations for sure!



We found it was much better for everyone if it crawled on the top of her hand instead of Abby holding it in her palm...turns out squeezing is her natural reaction.

Welcome Dylan!

Dylan Buelow was born on September 10th and we were so excited to go meet him.  Lisa, Jenn, Makaela Zack and I went down to Kapiolani to see the new family of 4.  Just a few pictures of our newest addition to the Hawaii Ohana.

Dylan:) a solid 8 lbs

Zack checking out his new friend.  Steph looks amazing!

Abby and Makaela at the Waterpark

We had the pleasure of spending Makaela's birthday with her.  Makaela was 3 years old on the 11th.  We spent the morning at the water park and met Jenn and Makaela there.  The girls had a blast together.  It was so cute to see them running around holding hands and rushing up to go down the slides.  They had such a great time.

Abby's 1st Trip to the Dentist

We have been trying to prep Abby for the dentist for the last couple days and having her practice saying "awww".  We ask her what the dentist will look at and she says "teeth"  or something close to that:).  I actually never occurred to me that it wouldn't go well since I have never minded the dentist.  As we pulled up Matt called to check in on us and said this could go really good or...it could be really bad.  You never know with toddlers! 

I had to fill out the usual forms and Abby found a book and kept herself busy.

She got a little nervous and wanted to hold my hand as we went in to the back room so I sat with her in the chair and she did really well.  The hygentists gave her Dora and Cinderella stickers ( she called Cinderella Ariel since she has been watching The Little Mermaid- all those princesses are the same anyway, right?).   She played with her stickers and watched "UP" on the TV screen while the dentist did the check up.

He said everything looks good but referred us to a pediatric specialist to do the cleanings for the next few years.

He noticed that the skin between the roof of her mouth and the front of her gum is overly attached.  He said that as she gets older it would need to be snipped because it will cause her front teeth to separate.  Basically, he was telling us to start saving for braces and other orthodontic care..no surprise there considering all the mouth pieces I had over the years.

Congratulations Grandpa Bill

Today Matt's dad,  Bill, retired.  After working for the State of Pennsylvania for 30+ years, most recently in the Bureau of Management Consulting, he is officially done!  We are so excited for him and Marianne, who retired in December from over 30 years of teaching Special Education Math in the Middle school...If that doesn't do you in I don't know what will!

These are some pictures of Bill's retirement party today.  Casey was able to make it home for the party and to help celebrate.

5 Months Already?!

Where has the time gone?  I can't remember what it was like without Zack and it is hard to believe that he has only been around for 5 months.  With the Hawaii baby boom, the newest, baby Makenzie, just a month old, and baby Dylan hopefully arriving tomorrow it seems like Zack is so big already.

He is getting really good at sitting on his own.

He can stand supported

And he is a great little brother (although I am not sure how much longer he will actually be littler).  He puts up with so much from Abby.  She loves him to pieces but also can be inadvertently rough with him and he just takes it like a champ..I think he is saving up to get back at her someday in the near future.  Sometimes he gets a good grip of her hair and she handles it pretty well too.

Labor Day

We got up fairly early on Labor Day and met the Buelows and Jenn and Makaela at the "Secret" Lagoon that is where the hold the Paradise Cove Luau- coincidentally where Matt and I first met.

The turtles were out right when we got there and Matt and Abby got to check them out.  The water is so clear and they just come right up and get in the middle of things.

Zack was hanging out in the shade:)

 

Later in the day, Mark brought out the boogie board and the kids had a blast on it!  Here are some pictures and videos of the girls.

Leaving the Baby Stage:(

I got pictures of Abby when she had just turned 4 months and I had this one framed in the house.  I love it because it was the very end of her "newborn baby" phase, which I loved (just like all of them) and I will never get back.  It is so hard to believe that she was ever this little baby when I look at the independent toddler that she has become.

                              

      

I wanted to get the same picture of Zack (since I have a spot right next to Abby's).  A month ago, when Zack entered his 4th month we went to get some pictures done and we just got them back.
I can't believe that my "little" boy is almost 5 moths old and my days of having babies could be over.  When I look at this picture I just want to freeze him in time and keep him little forever.  He melts my heart, just like his daddy.

My little munchkins at 4 months old...

The Difference with a Second Child

Some things are so similar with Zack and Abby that I don't even think twice and I happen to look at their baby books and we have done the same things and introduced similar toys at almost exactly the same age and then some things are so different.

It wasn't until Abby was a little over 5 months that we gave her mum mums.  I thought this was such a big step because it resembled actual food.  I gave her a bite that was no bigger than the  tip of my finger because I was petrified of anything going in her mouth...it just seemed to be contrary to everything I had been sure to avoid up until this point.  Slowly but surely we worked up to bigger chunks and in no time she was eating them fairly independently.  Now she eats EVERYTHING!

With Zack, I started giving him rice cereal after he turned 4 months and now that he is almost 5 months he is up to about 3 or 4 entire attempts at it (I told you  I was not big on the baby food stage...).

Just recently I bought mum mums and I took it out of the package and didn't even think twice before I gave him the whole cracker.  He took it in stride and got right to work on it.  He is just a go with the flow kind of guy and is so happy. 

Family Date Night

 After a 1/2 of a week that was already feeling VERY long,  we decided to move up date night to Thursday instead of Friday.  We walked at KoOlina and made it in time for happy hour and the salad bar at Chuck's.  As we started our walk neither of us were sure we were going to make it for dinner since we were so exhausted but luckily the exercise gave us some energy and had a really nice dinner.

not the best picture:)


As we were leaving, Matt wanted to take Abby to the playground ( Disneyland Dad:), so Zack and I walked back to the car and picked them up.  The sun was just setting and for the first time on too long I stopped and admired the sunset.  It was beautiful as always.  I used to watch it all the time and that is something that we have stopped doing since the kids were born.  Unfortunately, bedtime and sunset coincide most of the year but it reminded to stop and enjoy it more often.

As I was stopped to take a picture, a man asked if I wanted a picture of me and my little man...of course!!!

Another Busy Weekend

Since school started back it feels like it has been a whirlwind.  As we were curriculum mapping today, I realized we have been back to school for 5 weeks now!  As if life wasn't busy enough going back to school ( both Matt and I at new jobs), the weekends have been jam packed.

Here are a few highlights from last weekend:

After I spent the better part of the day at a workshop (it has been a long time since I have done that!) and Matt watched the kiddos, we drove back to Aloha Tower as soon as I got home to meet Matt's friend from high shcool, Jim and his wife Andrea, for dinner at Gordon Biersh.  It was such a fun night and Zack and Abby were fabulous.  We had a great dinner and it was so fun to connect with some of Matt's old friends.

Matt and Abby tearing it up on the dance floor:)

Jim, Abby, Matt and Andrea enjoying the band,

The whole crew. We even got Zack's stroller in the picture since he was sleeping like a perfect angel..he is such a trooper!

Sunday, believe it or not, was the FIRST time I took both kids out by myself.  Matt and I both were off all summer and we have done a lot as a family or had the opportunity to split the kids and run a man to man defense:).  Matt has been so helpful since I had class this week on Wednesday and some other stuff going on so I encouraged him to take a day to play while I took the kids.  He got to go play disc golf and I took the kids shopping ad to baby Colton's 1st birthday party. 

I couldn't have asked for a better experience with both kids.  They were so good while I shopped for at least an hour...I have a bad habit of roaming stores aimlessly.

We had a great time at Colotn's birthday party too.

Abby is getting bigger and it is fun to see her tag along with Makaela  (almost 3 yrs) and Brooke (a little over 2 years).

The boys even got to play.  Zack is almost 5 months and Colton a 1 year.  It is amazing how sitting it doesn't look like there is that much difference,